Lower interest rates on mortgages are linked to an increase in birth rates, according to economists at the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Hard to believe? Read our story.

The FHFA has been pushing Fannie and Freddie to reduce the risk profile of the loans they acquire, and that effort appears to be taking hold as the share of high-risk new business fell drastically in the fourth quarter. (Includes two data charts.)

A new study found that the average interest rate in 2018 was 5.40% but a borrower paid as low as 4.24% in Hawaii or as high as 7.71% in Maine.

Banks left lending standards unchanged for most residential mortgages in the third quarter of 2019, even as demand rose significantly. Underwriting for commercial real estate loans stiffened.

The average age of first-time homebuyers is increasing and the buyers are less likely to be married, according to a recent analysis. The average age of buyers in 2017 was 34 compared with 30 in 2009.

Some 12.9% of purchase loans sold to Fannie and Freddie in the second quarter had credit scores ranging from 620 to 699, the highest such concentration on record. But loans with high credit scores accounted for a rising share of GSE refi business.