Daily Dose

Among its five largest predictions for next year, Realtor.com expects first-time buyers will return to the market in full force after years of retrenchment that has dampened the recovery of the housing market. This push will be led by millennials, now settling into their families, careers, and 30s, who are eager to buy into the American dream.

Nationwide, home sales fell 1.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, the brokerage said in a recent report. Sales have been down year-over-year for every quarter so far in 2014. At the same time, sales of homes priced at at least $1 million continued to lift, rising 9 percent over the past year.

In a study of borrower profiles and lender behaviors, Zillow found that self-employed loan applicants receive only six loan quotes for every 10 received by non-self-employed borrowers. That's even worse than in June 2011, when the ratio was seven for every 10.

Months after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) first unveiled a rule establishing eligibility requirements for private insurers, the agency informed some of the nation's top firms it doesn't plan to release a finalized rule until close to the end of Q1 2015 or later, according to an announcement from U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI).

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.89 percent for the week ending December 4, Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. According to the company, it was the lowest average 30-year rate recorded since the end of May last year.

The enhancements are designed to make monthly mortgage payments affordable for homeowners in MHA who are struggling, to strengthen the safety net for homeowners facing financial hardships, and to help stabilize communities most affected by the financial crisis by helping homeowners in MHA build equity in their homes.

While rising home values have pushed down the share of underwater mortgages, the sheer number of upside-down borrowers remains massive—nearing four million—according to an update from Black Knight Financial Services. Those four million underwater homeowners combined for about $157 billion in negative equity in October.

Home lenders took in an average profit of $897 on each loan they originated over Q3, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Thursday. That average was down from $954 in the second quarter but still a vast improvement from an average per-loan loss of $194 in the first quarter.

The level of optimism for the housing market in the United States is at its highest point as it has been at any point during the recovery, according to a recent survey conducted by Trulia. Of those surveyed, 74 percent said that homeownership was part of the American Dream, tying its post-recession high set in Q4 2013.

According to a new index released Wednesday by the American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) International Center on Housing Risk, an estimated 46 percent of mortgages made from October 2013 through October 2014 were for first-time homebuyers. Looking only at government-guaranteed loans, that share is closer to 52 percent.