MORTGAGE

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5 to 0.8 percent.

States are crafting a scaled-back mortgage abuses settlement with top U.S. banks that would exclude California, one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures and falling home prices.

Where do the top one percent live? Not actually possible, using IRS data, according to a Brookings Institution researcher. But his study did find out where the top three percent live.

With Steven J. Baum closing, foreclosure business is expected to diffuse among smaller, local firms in New York State, real estate lawyers told IBTimes.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is pushing back against a report that said the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a major backer of residential mortgages, could require a bailout.

According to Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich, child labor laws are the single biggest cause of income inequality in the U.S.

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose in October while the number of homes on the market continued to decline, according to the National Association of Realtors. Although falling property values and near record-low borrowing costs are starting to appeal to homebuyers, a growing trend of last minute cancellation suggests that even those who are looking to buy are worried about the housing market.

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has roared into the lead of the Republican nominating race, brushing off concerns about his work for a troubled housing company, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the state's congressional delegation on Friday to prevent the so-called super committee from dealing a major blow to the economy of the state with spending cuts.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $315 million to settle a class action filed against it on behalf of investors in 18 mortgage-backed securities trusts, according to Reuters.

Survey reveals an alarming number of Americans are not retirement-ready and many have no college savings for their children.

The U.S. House and Senate voted to increase the threshold of mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Adminstration (FHA) to $729,750, a move that would give more homeowners access to lower interest rates.

Congress on Thursday found a rare moment of accord in the budget fights that have paralyzed Washington this year as lawmakers voted to extend government funding through December.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park Tuesday has forced the movement to re-evaluate its strategies. IBTimes spoke to Fordham University Sociology Professor Heather Gautney about how the movement has successfully regrouped and where it's headed.

A third of older Canadians will be paying off their homes until their 70s or even later, well past the age they hope to retire, according to a poll by Royal Bank of Canada released on Thursday.

Delinquent U.S. mortgage payments fell to 7.99 percent in the third quarter, down from 9.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assocation.

The British government has agreed to sell Northern Rock, the failed mortgage lender it nationalized in 2008, to Virgin Money, the banking arm of Richard Branson's Virgin empire.

The British government has agreed to sell Northern Rock, the failed mortgage lender it nationalized in 2008, to Virgin Money, the banking arm of Richard Branson's Virgin empire.

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac defended their lucrative pay before a House panel on Wednesday, one day after lawmakers approved suspending top executive compensation packages and moving the firms' thousands of employees onto a pay scale that lines up with federal financial regulators.

The Federal Housing Admistration said in its annual financial report that its cash reserves had fallen to $2.6 billion, down from $4.7, intensifying the likelihood of a taxpayer bailout.

Newt Gingrich earned between $1.6 million and $1.8 million as a consultant for the government-sponsored mortgage company Freddie Mac, far more than the $300,000 contract he disclosed in a recent debate, according to a Bloomberg News investigation. The advice he reportedly gave them contradicts his recent criticisms of the company.