In housing markets where home values are constantly rising, first-time buyers often struggle with coming up with a down payment and end up renting versus buying a home.

"In Dodd-Frank, you have actually codified too big to fail. We have actually created a category of systemically important institutions, and these banks go around bragging about it. You know what they say to people with a wink and a nod? We are so big, we are so important that if we get in trouble, the government has to bail us out. This is an outrage. We need to repeal Dodd-Frank as soon as possible." - Sen. Marco Rubio

Affordable housing markets can be hard to find in today's booming economy, but they are not nonexistent. In fact, there are a variety of affordable markets across the U.S., with the most affordable market located in Ohio, and the least affordable market in California.

Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey showed that mortgage loan application volume decreased 1.3 percent from last week on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Global DMS, a provider of web-based compliant valuation management software, announced that it has hired Mac Chiles as EVP of sales. In this role, he will be responsible for managing the company’s sales and business development functions for its eTrac Enterprise valuation management platform and ancillary solutions.

The gap between homeowner and appraisal values of homes narrowed slightly again in October, as appraisers' values were 1.98 percent under homeowner opinions.

As recovery continues across the nation from the mortgage crisis in 2007, some states appear to be patching things together more quickly than others.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been the target of much scrutiny in the last year as new regulation unfolded, but many question the structure and leadership within the government agency.

The data, which examined 55 of the largest metro areas across the country to determine the best markets for single-family home investors looking at median price, average gross rental yields, year-over-year job growth, and home affordability, showed that the top investment market is Charlotte, North Carolina due to its strong job growth.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that it will expand the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative to 18 more metro areas across the country to provide REO relief to communities.