The twin realities of the current U.S. housing market‒‒rising home prices and shrinking inventories in nearly every metro‒‒are increasingly putting homes out of reach for middle-income workers within their cities. The typical American worker makes just over $37,000 annually, while the typical American house costs just under $255,000.

A new study by Equifax finds that Americans are not as financially literate as they want to be, but they are increasingly interested in changing that fact. Survey takers overwhelming wish financial literacy was a mandated school course. They also overwhelmingly understand the importance of paying their bills.

Fewer people were out of work in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But at the same time, fewer new jobs were created last month than in almost a year. Heavy winter storms might have been the reason for a setback, as the job market seems poised for a push in April.

Bankruptcy filings nationwide took a sharp uptick in March. The latest report on bankruptcy filings by Epiq Systems shows bankruptcies nearly doubled compared to February. Filings were also up in March for the first time since 2011. Yet, year-to-date, all numbers are flat.

Rising home prices nationally have created the strongest equity economy since 2006, according to a new report by Black Knight. Borrowers have nearly $5 trillion in equity to tap into, and the number of underwater borrowers has dropped dramatically. Refis account for a stronger share of borrowing than they have for years.

The number of bankruptcy filings nationally rose in February, according to the February 2017 Bankruptcy Trends report by Epiq Systems. Overall, Epiq reported 58,336 national filings last month. That’s up from 54.574 filings in January.

More lenders in February saw defects in mortgage applications compared to January, according to a new report by First American Financial Corp. The firm’s chief economist cited rising interest rates as the likely culprit. As rates rise, more borrowers are seeking ARMs, which are inherently riskier and, thus, ripe for more misrepresentation.

Credit risk transfer is GSE’s largest whole loan securities deal to date. Deal includes $602M in guaranteed senior certificates backed by 1,227 super-conforming loans.

Requests for showings and offers-on-the-table see uptick, according to Redfin.

According to the January 2017 Loan Application Defect Index compiled by the First American Financial Corporation, defect, fraud, and misrepresentation risk has increased as market composition shifts to riskier purchase transactions. "While technology adoption has reduced risk for both purchase and ...