Daily Dose

Despite seeing a decline in average gross return on investment (ROI) and average gross profit on flipped homes, California still ranked fourth among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in flipped homes as a percentage of total sales in Q2, according to RealtyTrac.

Many mortgage professionals believe the outlook for their business in the next six months is "grim," according to a report from the Collingwood Group. Only 30 percent of mortgage industry professionals surveyed for the report believe that business conditions will be better in the next six months, while 41 percent said conditions will stay the same and 29 percent said they believe conditions will be worse.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Monday a 60-day extension for the comment period for proposed rule to revise membership requirements for Federal Home Loan Banks. FHFA gave as its reasons for extending the comment period the importance of the issues being addressed, the high interest level in the proposal, and requests from stakeholders for more time to evaluate the proposal.

According to results from Fannie Mae's September 2014 National Housing Survey, Americans' optimism about the housing market recovered last month following declines in both July and August, with the share of respondents saying now is a good time to buy a home jumping 4 percentage points to 68 percent. The share of consumers saying they would purchase a home if they were going to move also picked up, increasing 2 percentage points to 66 percent.

Including distressed sales, home prices nationwide rose 6.4 percent year-over-year in August, according to the latest report from CoreLogic. The increase marks 30 straight months of year-over-year price growth nationally. August's increase came in below July's rate of appreciation, which clocked in at 7.4 percent in CoreLogic's initial report for the month.

Fannie Mae's chief economist, Doug Duncan, said the latest employment report supports Fannie's "forecast of solid economic growth," and is consistent with the company's September National Housing Survey, "which is expected to show a rebound in consumer expectations regarding housing after a couple of months of eroding confidence."

After slowing for the fourth straight month in August, the Federal Reserve's gauge of conditions in the labor market made a slight recovery in September. The Fed's labor market conditions index, which the central bank said it will now release on a monthly basis, added 2.5 points in September after increasing only 2 points in August—its lowest pace of growth in 13 months.

Despite inching closing to the tipping point, home prices still haven't reached a stage where fears of a bubble are justified, says Trulia. The company recently released its third quarter Bubble Watch report, which measures whether home prices are over- or undervalued relative to their fundamental value. Comparing current movements to long-term trends, the report suggests home prices nationally remain 3 percent undervalued.

Midland States Bancorp, headquartered in Effingham, Illinois, will originate $8 million in mortgage loans in minority neighborhoods over the next three years to resolve charges that it previously avoided doing business or establishing branches in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in St. Louis and northern Illinois, according to an announcement from HUD.

Mortgage loans are aging, particularly loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, according to the latest data from Jacksonville, Florida-based Black Knight Financial Services. In fact, the average loan age is currently at an all-time high of 54 months, according to the firm. The average mortgage loan age has been on the rise for about nine years, although the uptick in loan originations last year brought on a "temporary slowdown," according to Black Knight.