New titleholder? China says it is world's largest trader

China's latest trade figures show it is "very likely" to have overtaken the US as the world's largest trader. It would topple the position that the US has held for much of the last century and cross another milestone in rivalling the biggest economy in the world.

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New Mortgage Rules Won't Knock Out Many Borrowers By Peter Coy

Are you in the market for a house and worrying about whether it will be harder to get a mortgage after Jan. 10, when new federal rules kick in? Don’t fret. For most people the rules won’t make much difference. If the new rules do prevent you from landing a mortgage loan, it could be a sign that you aren’t financially ready for homeownership.

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Home Equity Gains Spur the Economy as Owners Buy Cars: Mortgages By Kathleen M. Howley

Americans flush with cash as they regain equity in their homes are spending more after years of pinching pennies.

The share of owners whose homes are worth at least 50 percent more than they owe on their mortgages rose to 18 percent in the fourth quarter as property prices gained, up from 16 percent in the prior three months, according to a report today by RealtyTrac, an Irvine, California-based real estate data firm. U.S. homeowners held $9.7 trillion of equity in the third quarter, a 4.5 percent gain from the earlier period, according to the Federal Reserve.

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Blackstone Funding Largest U.S. Single-Family Rentals By John Gittelsohn and Heather Perlberg Oct 23, 2013 12:31 PM ET

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP (BX) has spent $7.5 billion acquiring 40,000 houses in the past two years to create the largest single-family rental business in the U.S. The private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.

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Canadian House Prices 62 Per Cent Higher Than U.S. Prices: BMO The Huffington Post Canada | By Daniel Tencer

Canadians complain about the price gap between U.S. and local stores, but here’s the biggest price gap of them all: housing.
According to an analysis from BMO Capital Markets economist Doug Porter, Canadians now pay 62 per cent more for housing than Americans.
“A 62 per cent gap is simply not sustainable for long,” Porter wrote in a note to clients.
Until about 2006, Canadian and U.S. house prices tracked each other closely for at least 25 years, Porter wrote, but that all changed with the bursting of the U.S.’s housing bubble. House prices in the two markets have been moving in opposite directions for much of the past six years.

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Mortgage application denied? Don't despair By Polyana da Costa

Your mortgage application was denied. These words sound harsh, but they don't always mean you can't get a mortgage.
Lenders reject about 1 in every 2 applications they receive to refinance a mortgage, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. About 30 percent of purchasers who apply for a mortgage are turned down.
Despite the tight lending environment, borrowers shouldn't always take "no" for an answer. In some cases, they just need to apply with a different lender or take a few simple steps to improve their credit.

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U.S. mortgage applications fall as refinance hits five-year low

Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell for a second week and hit a 13-year low as mortgage rates rose due to a bond market sell-off following the Federal Reserve's decision to pare its bond purchase stimulus in January, an industry group said on Tuesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 6.3 percent to the lowest level since December 2000.

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