Daily Dose

Signs of a healing—though still depressed—jobs market provided some slight lift to mortgage rates this week, market data shows. In its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac recorded the average 30-year fixed rate at 4.15 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending June 10, up from 4.12 percent in last week's survey. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.51 percent following a spike in late June.

According to Trulia, asking prices on listed homes rose 1.2 percent month-to-month in June, the highest monthly increase in more than a year. Unfortunately, consumer incomes have failed to keep pace. Out of the top 10 markets for annual price gains in June—most of which were in the South or Midwest—Trulia found that wages per worker rose less than 1 percent last year in all but one.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Builder Applications Survey (BAS), a gauge of application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders, suggests new home purchase applications slipped 5 percent from May to June, the group reported Thursday. The change does not include any adjustments for typical seasonal movements.

Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Citigroup and the Justice Department are closing in on a $7 billion settlement to resolve an investigation into the bank's sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities. The Journal reports that according to people familiar with the matter, the deal will include $4 billion in cash payments to the federal government, with the rest coming in the form of borrower relief.

In an event in Chicago, FHFA Director Mel Watt said fear of being scammed is to blame for low participation rates in the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). According to an FHFA report, the number of homeowners refinancing monthly through HARP has dropped nationally to just less than 20,000 loans in April 2014, down year-over-year from almost 107,000 in April 2013.

Less than two months after the San Antonio mayor's nomination for the post, the Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Julian Castro as HUD secretary as current cabinet member Shaun Donovan is poised to take over the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The body voted 71-26 to confirm Castro, a Democrat whose star has been on the rise since he delivered the opening keynote at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Mortgage application activity strengthened last week on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, getting a boost from higher purchase loan volumes. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications increased a holiday-adjusted 1.9 percent for the week ending July 4. The last time applications rose was early June, shortly after the Memorial Day holiday.

As the housing recovery downshifts from last year's pace, the latest survey of real estate agents by national brokerage Redfin finds homebuyers and sellers are having trouble getting on the same page with each other and with the new shape of the market.

Despite the best efforts of the federal government to allow those with dented and troubled credit to continue having access to mortgage loans, tight credit restrictions are still slowing the national housing recovery, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

According to a profile of international homebuying activity released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), total international home sales were estimated at $92.2 billion from April 2013 through March 2013, up from the previous period's level of $68.2 billion.