Low inventory in the housing market has increased competition among home shoppers. According to the first quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report, there were fewer homes for sale in June than one year ago and much of the decline came from the lowest-valued homes sought by first-time homebuyers.

Wells Fargo Bank and Prospect Mortgage announced Thursday their intentions to withdraw from marketing activities that depend on marketing services agreements due to regulatory uncertainty and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act interpretations.

Interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages and home loan amounts increased from May to June, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency indices of new mortgage contracts.

Quicken Loans, Inc. ranked the highest in terms of customer satisfaction among all primary mortgage servicers for the second consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction study released Thursday.

Loosening credit standards, demographics, pent-up demand, and attractive affordability and housing valuations are on track to promote a healthier housing market for the rest of 2015 in the homebuilding and construction sectors, according to an analysis from Fitch Ratings released Wednesday.

Although Federal Reserve officials determined that economic activity is expanding moderately, the housing sector has shown additional improvement, and job gains have been solid with declining unemployment, the federal funds rate will remain the same at a target range of 0 to 1/4 percent, according to the Federal Open Market Committee July meeting.

Many housing markets are still finding their footing following the unforgettable financial crisis and housing market collapse. Recent data from WalletHub found that the housing market is a major driver of economic growth within major cities.

For the first time in 2015, pending home sales declined in June, slowing momentum in the height of the homebuying summer season.

Stewart Information Services Corp. recently announced that Genady Vishnevetsky has been hired as chief information security officer.

On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an enforcement action taken against Paymap Inc. for deceptive advertisement practices used to market a mortgage payment program.