Despite an anticipated pickup in economic growth and housing recovery in the second half of this year, Fannie Mae expects the economy to grow at just 1.5 percent overall this year. Fannie revised its previous estimate of 2.1 percent growth for 2014 after a disappointing start to the year.

Credit standards at large lenders appear to be loosening somewhat, while criteria at small and mid-sized lenders appear to be tightening, according to a new survey from Fannie Mae. Lenders that reported tightening credit standards most often stated "changing regulatory requirements" as the rationale for their stricter standards.

While home prices continue to decelerate on an annual basis after reaching peak speed in February, price gains did pick up slightly from April to May, according to FNC's latest price index. After rising 0.6 percent over the month in both March and April, national home prices rose 1 percent in May, according to FNC's data, which excludes the sales of distressed properties.

As the shape of the mortgage industry shifts with a rising number of non-bank entities now selling loans directly to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the supervisor for the GSEs' regulator continues to express concerns about potential risks in these transactions.

While the time it took to close a loan in June increased just slightly from the previous month, the closing rate reached a record high of 61 percent, according to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report. Among loans originated 90 days before the report, 60.7 percent closed in June, the report states. This is up from 57.8 percent in May. "Clearly, lenders are working harder than ever to convert and close loans," said Jonathan Corr, president and COO of Ellie Mae.

In the midst of hurricane season, CoreLogic released its storm surge analysis for the year, counting more than 6.5 million homes at risk of hurricane damage and a total of $1.5 trillion in total reconstruction costs for these homes. Importantly, CoreLogic noted a large portion of homes susceptible to flood damage are not located within Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zones and therefore are not required to carry flood insurance.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a draft for new eligibility requirements for private mortgage insurers who insure mortgage loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The agency is seeking comments on the draft and will accept input through September 8.

GFS Capital Holdings, formerly Greenlight Financial Services, settled a claim with HUD regarding discrimination of women on maternity leave. The company agreed to pay a total of $48,000 to individuals against which it allegedly discriminated. HUD investigated Greenlight after a family complained the company denied their refinance loan application because the wife was on maternity leave at the time.

A notable drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter—the largest decline since 2009, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis—did not appear to shake consumer confidence, according to the June Survey of Consumers from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan. While GDP fell 2.9 percent in the first quarter, the June sentiment survey actually showed slight improvement over the month with a gain of 0.7 percent.

While persistent price gains continue to dominate headlines, homes in a majority of major markets across the country remain slightly undervalued, quashing any concerns of a rising bubble, according to the latest data from Trulia. Nationally, homes remain undervalued by 3 percent compared with long-term fundamentals, according to Trulia's Bubble Watch.