February 2026

Data breach hits 1 million Figure customers

Key insight: Attackers are bypassing technical security by impersonating IT staff and tricking employees into handing over credentials. What’s at stake: The leak hits Figure during a critical financial window, coinciding with the pricing and upsizing of a secondary stock offering. Supporting data: The breach exposes approximately 967,000 unique email addresses, along with names, physical […]

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Why some cities resist national housing slowdowns

Uneven cooling in the national housing market is sharpening focus on why some cities continue to defy the slowdown. While macro indicators point to softer demand, select metro areas maintain steady homeowner lending volume. Processing Content Local conditions, rather than national sentiment, shape borrower confidence, application flow, and loan performance. These local conditions are reflected

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White House report says CFPB raised borrowing costs

Key insight: A report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers claimed that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rules raised consumer interest rates and reduced the availability of credit since its inception. Supporting data: The report says the agency’s actions raised consumers’ borrowing costs by between $237 to $369 billion over the 13 years

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Refi shift drives latest increase in mortgage defect rates

Plummeting mortgage rates during the third quarter last year started a shift in originators’ business mix towards refinance, and this, more than a lessening emphasis on loan manufacture quality, resulted in a huge jump in defect rates, Aces Quality Management said. Processing Content For the last week of June, the 30-year conforming fixed rate mortgage

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Average down payment falls amid price cooling

As home-price growth has flattened, the average down payment has decreased, according to a new industry report. Processing Content The typical homebuyer’s down payment in the United States decreased 1.5% year over year to $64,000 in December, the first drop in five months, Redfin found. That’s 15.2% of the average purchase price, compared with 16.7%

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The Real Reason Home Sales Slowed in January. And It’s Not What You Think.

The Real Reason Home Sales Slowed in January. And It’s Not What You Think.

If you saw headlines that talked about how “home sales fell sharply in January,” it probably raised an eyebrow – especially if you’re thinking about selling your house. But context matters. Yes, in January, home sales declined. But that has more to do with seasonality and the weather than it does with any big drop

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EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH: How AI is supporting bank mortgage growth plans

While the past decade has seen the share of depository institutions in mortgage shrink, a select number of banks and credit unions are growing their home lending departments, and technology’s improvement is one reason why they smell opportunity. Processing Content Coinciding with recent plans among banks and credit unions to grow in mortgage are predictions

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Toll Brothers misses orders estimates amid slow housing market

Toll Brothers Inc. fell short of analysts’ estimates for quarterly orders, signaling that fewer people are signing contracts to build homes as high prices and economic uncertainty hold some buyers back. Processing Content The luxury home builder said Tuesday that it had 2,303 signed contracts for the three months ending Jan. 31, missing analyst estimates

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FHA, Ginnie Mae, VA manage loan performance, affordability

Officials responsible for mortgages that are directly government-backed weighed in on how they’re looking to address borrower affordability and performance risk amid policy change at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s servicing conference. Processing Content Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Frank Cassidy called his agency’s insurance-fund capital ratio “very strong” and hinted that a premium cut or other

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