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According to jointly released estimates by HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new single-family houses in April 2015 increased 6.8 percent from last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000 units. The March rate was 484,000 units and is 26.1 percent above the estimate of 410,000 for April 2014.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Economic and Mortgage Finance commentary for May 2015 written by Joel Kan, associate VP, industry survey and forecasts at MBA, economic growth struggled its way through the first quarter.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey found that mortgage applications are down 1.5 percent from last week. Freddie Mac also released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), revealing that the average fixed mortgage rates moved just slightly lower following three consecutive weeks of increases.

Once the fourth-largest investment bank, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis and filed bankruptcy in 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is making headlines again by filing suit against three financial institutions—Syncora Holdings Ltd., U.S. Bancorp, and GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Inc.—in an attempt to disallow “duplicate” claims emerging from crisis-era loans.

The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015, introduced last week by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) is aimed at providing regulatory relief for community and regional banks and credit unions, and proposes what Shelby calls "moderate" changes that would increase the transparency of the Federal Reserve.

HUD recently released a notice requesting public comment on proposed revisions to the Addendum to Uniform Residential Loan Application, also known as the 92900-A. This is the loan certification document signed by lenders.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced in a news release that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will issue new operational and financial eligibility requirements for all current and potential single-family mortgage sellers and servicers.

Moody’s Investors Service released a report called, “New TILA-RESPA Rule Will Heighten Possibility of Losses in US RMBS for Rule Violations” revealing that initial challenges for lenders to implement and comply with the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, along with the potential high costs of lenders who do not comply, raise the risk of losses for residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) trusts.

Auction.com, LLC, recently released its Retail Market Outlook, which offers analysis on market metrics, provided vacancy and rent projections, and reveals the top markets in which to buy and sell retail assets in 2015.

In a combined session of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA), a meeting was held today to discuss domestic and foreign financial market developments and the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet.