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The report predicts the 2015 purchase volume will feature over 3.3 million loans totaling to $782.6 billion. The 2015 refinance volume range is between 1.41 million loans at the low end totaling to $305.9 billion to 1.77 million loans at the high end totaling to $384 billion. The 2015 expected low end for total mortgage value is 4.74 million loans for 1,088.5 billion. The high end is 5.1 million loans at $1,166.6 billion.

Housing starts dropped 17 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 897,000. This is 3.3 percent below the February 2014 rate of 928,000. The Northeast and Midwest region saw the biggest drop in starts at 56.5 percent and 37 percent. The West region saw the least starts drop at 18.2 percent.

In an update on its website dated March 2, Ocwen announced that it had "signed a letter of intent with a buyer on the sale of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) on a portfolio consisting of approximately 277,000 performing Agency loans owned by Fannie Mae with a total unpaid principal balance of approximately $45 billion."

Led by Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia), a group of colleagues from the Senate Banking Committee introduced the bill, S. 752, today, in an effort to push Congress to get serious about exploring reform options for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a press release.

CoreLogic reported that 10.8 percent of all residential homes were underwater in Q4 (about 5.4 million properties), which was down from 13.3 percent in the same quarter a year earlier – a decline of nearly 19 percent, or 1.2 million homes. The Q4 total was up slightly from the 10.3 percent that was reported for Q3 2014 – an increase of 3.3 percent.

The Urban Institute has released a report discussing the impact of these changes and the likelihood Freddie Mac will need to take another draw from the Treasury. Accord to the report, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made a combined profit of over $120 million in 2013. But by 2014 the net profit from both institutions fell by 80 percent, with Fannie Mae profit totaling to $14 billion and Freddie totaling $8 billion. More alarming were Freddie’s fourth quarter profits, which were down 90 percent from just the previous quarter.

Two of the three HMI components posted losses in March. The component gauging current sales conditions fell three points to 58 while the component measuring buyer traffic dropped two points to 37. The gauge charting sales expectations in the next six months held steady at 59.

At the start of a trial in Manhattan federal court, a lawyer for the Federal Housing Finance Agency said misrepresentations by Nomura and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, an underwriter, about loans underlying $2 billion (1.3 billion pounds) in securities exemplified broader misconduct by banks ahead of the crash.

The 2014 Conservatorship Scorecard expressed the expectation that the Enterprises would work to increase access to mortgage credit for creditworthy borrowers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have since released programs that allow buyers to obtain a mortgage with a 3 percent down payment. In addition to providing better access to borrowers, the report stated improvements in the Enterprises’ risks. The improvements include stronger underwriting standards and stricter purchasing guidelines. For example, 97 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans must be fixed-rate and cannot have an adjustable rate. This provides a responsible approach to improving access to credit while also furthering safe and sound lending practices.

Renter confidence rose 4.4 points from last year to 62.4, with roughly 5.2 million renters saying they expect to buy a home this year. That’s an increase of 1 million from last year, when 4.2 million renters said they expect to buy a home. Homeowner confidence rose 3.3 points from last year to 70.6.