Daily Dose

Mortgage applications increased by 8.4 percent for the week ending June 5, 2015 from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Last week’s data included an adjustment due to the Memorial Day holiday.

​The American Bankers Association’s (ABA’s) 22nd Annual Real Estate Lending Survey determined that 90 percent of the typical bank’s mortgage loans made last year were qualified mortgages (QMs). The survey also found that 78 percent of respondents expect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) mortgage lending rules will continue to limit credit availability, while 19 percent labeled the impact as severe.

A new survey of housing attitudes released by the MacArthur Foundation found that a majority of Americans believe the country is still not past the housing crisis that began seven years ago. The 2015 How Housing Matters Survey found that three in five Americans believe we are “still in the middle” of the housing crisis or “the worst part is yet to come” of the crisis.

Today, in joint release the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agencies issued a final interagency policy statement establishing joint standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of the entities they regulate.

Quicken Loans, a Detroit-based mortgage lender reported today that the difference between appraiser and homeowner perceptions of home values continued to increase for the fourth consecutive month in May. For the first time in 22 months, appraiser opinions of home values were 1.15 percent lower than homeowner estimates, according to Quicken Loans’ national Home Price Perception Index (HPPI).

Leading online real estate marketplace Auction.com has named its chief financial officer, Tim Morse, as CEO of the company while Auction.com co-founder Jeff Frieden will stay on with the company as executive chairman.

With National Homeownership Month well underway, new research from Bankrate.com found that Arizona hosts three metro areas in the top ten cities for senior citizens to retire, while New York hosts some of the worst areas to retire. Phoenix, Arizona was named as the best place to retire, while New York City was named the worst city to retire.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro is scheduled to testify before the full House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, June 11, for the second time since becoming the nation's top housing official in July 2014.

Law360's John Kennedy reported that a New York state jury found Abacus Federal Savings Bank not guilty of residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records, and grand larceny charges on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office confirmed to the site.

According to a recent press release, Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) and Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania) have introduced bipartisan legislation to help improve efforts to end homelessness among our nation’s veterans. The Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund Act of 2015 or H.R. 2591, creates the Homeless Veterans Assistance Fund, according to the release. If this legislation is passed, taxpayers will have a chance to help keep nearly 50,000 veterans off the streets by making an optional contribution to the fund on their federal income tax return form.