There was a decline in consumer applications for credit over the past 12 months, and an increase in rejection rates in 2018, compared with 2017.

That was expected given the decline in demand due to higher mortgage interest rates, the share of respondents who applied for a mortgage refinance during the past year was lower in 2018 than in 2017, according to the October 2018 SCE Credit Access Survey from the Federal Reserve. The survey provides information on consumers' experiences with and expectations about credit demand and credit access.

Rejection rates reported during 2018 rose for credit card applications and credit card limit extension requests, and also increased notably for mortgage refinance applications.

Another development is that there was no appreciable change in borrower-initiated account closings between 2017 and 2018, there was a sharp increase in the proportion of respondents who reported that a lender closed one of their accounts, most commonly a credit or store retail card, during the past 12 months. In October, 7.2 percent of those surveyed reported such a lender-initiated event, compared with 5.7 percent in October 2017 and 4.2 percent in October 2016. In fact, the 2018 figure is the highest rate reported since the start of our survey in 2013.

Looking ahead, the proportion of respondents who reported that they are somewhat or very likely to apply for credit over the next 12 months remained stable overall, with the exception of mortgage refinances for which fewer respondents expect to apply, when compared with expectations reported in 2017, and even more so compared with 2016.

LoanStreet Inc. has closed a $6.5 million funding round, bringing total investment in the company to $9 million.

This round was led by Valar Ventures, with participation from Third Prime Capital, Rosecliff Ventures, Ride Ventures, The Gramercy Fund and other notable investors. LoanStreet is the first fully-integrated online platform that streamlines the process of sharing, managing, and originating loans,

"Developing disruptive technologies for heavily regulated industries requires a rare combination of business, legal and regulatory expertise," said James Fitzgerald, general partner and co-founder of Valar Ventures. "Ian and the team at LoanStreet have exactly the right backgrounds--and are the right entrepreneurs--to bring innovation to credit unions, banks and other lenders that are often underserved by emerging technologies. We are excited to be partnering with them."

LoanStreet offers lenders tools that historically were only available to large-scale financial institutions with unlimited budgets. LoanStreet's turnkey, integrated lending solution allows all lenders to establish new sources of revenue, enhance balance sheet management, scale loan purchases and sales while strengthening financial and regulatory reporting.

"With support from our investors we look forward to unlocking opportunities for lenders of all sizes and transaction volumes,” said Ian Lampl, CEO of LoanStreet.  “The power of LoanStreet's network and technology gives lending institutions access to additional sources of profit, diversification, and transparency while lowering risk."

The housing market showed signs of cooling in many of the nation's largest metros this month with inventory increases outpacing the rest of the country, listing prices slowing and price cuts increasing. In contrast, smaller, more affordable markets continued to see price gains, according to the November housing report from Realtor.com.

During the month of November, housing inventory rose 4 percent. However, in the nation's largest and most expensive metros, inventory increased at a more rapid 9 percent. Seven of the 10 markets posting the largest year-over-year inventory increases are located on the West Coast, five of which are in California.

"The housing market is a tale of two cities as the divergence widens between high-cost, large urban areas, and smaller, more affordable markets," said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com. "Buyers in larger metros are seeing more homes on the market and listing prices decline, while those in smaller markets continued to see price increases."

Nationally, the percentage of listings that saw price reductions increased to 22 percent in November, up from 19 percent a year ago. The increase is being driven by the nation's largest markets. In fact, 40 of the 45 top markets saw an increase in price reductions. San Jose, Calif., topped the list with the share of price reductions growing by 16 percent, from 17 percent last year to 33 percent in November. It was followed by Indianapolis (+15 percent), Seattle (+12 percent), San Francisco (+9 percent) and San Diego (+9 percent).

Small Markets Increase 9 Percent

The median listing price grew 9 percent year-over-year to $293,000 in November, down slightly from October, which is in line with the usual seasonal pattern, but higher than last year's increase of 8 percent.

Of the 45 metros, 35 still saw year over year gains in their median listing price, however only 8 markets outpaced the national growth rate of 9 percent. This indicates that although prices are still increasing nationally, the gains are predominantly from smaller markets. Chattanooga, Tenn. (+17%), Spokane, Wash. (+15%), and Greensboro-High Point, N.C. (+14%) are some of the markets that posted the highest year-over-year median list price growth.

The steepest declines were felt in San Jose, Calif. and Austin, Texas, which were down 4 percent, or $41,000 and $15,000, respectively. Jacksonville, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., Houston, Tampa, Fla., Dallas, and San Francisco also saw declines.

Homes continued to sell at a relatively rapid pace of 71 days on average in November, five days faster than last year.