Daily Dose

In a speech on Monday, FHFA Director Mel Watt outlined the next steps the agency is taking to expand Americans' access to mortgage credit while ensuring that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are equipped to manage risk.

Florida Realtors reported that closed sales of single-family homes came to 20,792 last month, an increase of 13.5 percent over September 2013. Meanwhile, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in September was $180,000, up 5.9 percent from the previous year.

According to Platinum Data Solutions, a collateral valuation technology provider, more than 17 percent of appraisals on purchase transactions report a value less than that of the contract price. Platinum Data CEO Phil Huff said the findings point to two possibilities.

The so-called qualified residential mortgage (QRM) rule, which was put up for consideration by FDIC's board of directors Tuesday morning, would require banks to retain at least 5 percent of a loan's risk when packing mortgages to sell to investors in the secondary market. The QRM rule is one of the bigger provisions mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, with co-author Barney Frank remarking in the past that risk retention is "the single most important part of the bill."

Total existing-home sales, including single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and co-ops, inched up 2.4 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.17 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. While September's sales rate marks a 2014 high, transaction volume remained down 1.7 percent compared to last September's annual sales rate of 5.26 million units.

Morgan Stanley's third quarter 2014 net revenues of $8.9 billion marked an increase from $8.0 billion from the same period a year ago, the investment bank reported in its Q3 2014 earnings statement released on Friday. Morgan Stanley's net income for Q3 2014, including discontinued operations, was reported at $1.7 billion.

Credit reporting agency Equifax released on Monday its latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report, revealing that the total balance of new credit for revolving home equity loans in the year's first seven months was $65.9 billion. The figure, up 21.4 percent year-over-year, marks a six-year high.

The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation in Maryland shut down NBRS Financial, based in Rising Sun, appointing FDIC as receiver, according to dual releases from both agencies. The latest collapse follows a quiet period after what had been an active summer for FDIC. Last year, the agency announced 24 bank closings, 22 of which had already occurred by this time.

At the national level, Realtor.com reported the median age of September's housing stock was 90 days, four days longer than August's median age as home shoppers back off for the season. Compared to last year, though, September's median inventory age was down three days, indicating demand is still there. The number of listings last month was approximately 1.87 million, down 2.7 percent annually and 7.9 percent monthly.

According to transaction data from CoreLogic, home sales transacted entirely in cash accounted for 32.9 percent of total home sales in July, down from 35.9 percent in July 2013. It was the lowest cash sales share since August 2008. As of July, all-cash sales were still well above their pre-crisis average of 25 percent as traditional mortgage buyers still find it difficult to get a foot into the market.