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But while earnings dropped, mortgage-banking income and actual revenues for BB&T both increased. Since Q1 last year, mortgage-banking income rose by 48.6 percent, and total revenues for the company jumped by 1.5 percent, or $34 million, coming in at $2.3 billion total.

Rood said millennials are generally drawn to live in urban areas because of convenience, lifestyle, and walkable amenities, but they are paying 30 to 40 percent more in rents than they would be paying if they owned a home – and a result, they cannot save enough money for a downpayment for a house.

New Jersey federal court documents filed earlier this week revealed that Prudential Insurance Co. has moved to settle its ongoing lawsuits with Bank of America NA, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., First Franklin Financial Group, and a number of lenders in the mortgage industry. The suits, which were first filed in March 2013, alleged Bank of America and others knowingly sold Prudential $2.1 billion in low-quality mortgage-backed securities—and made false statements about them.

Last week, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker had proposed a plan for overhauling the federal regulatory system—one that included eliminating the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) altogether. Since dubbed the “Volcker plan,” the head of the OCC, Thomas Curry, has come out against the proposal, saying it would be ineffective at solving the nation’s regulatory issues.

The housing market will move steadily in 2015 driven by solid labor market improvements, low mortgage rates, an economy that is growing, and pent-up demand–but the pace should really pick up next year, according to economists who attended the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 2015 Spring Construction Forecast Webinar earlier this week.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Bank of America in August 2013, accusing the bank's Countrywide division of misrepresenting the mortgage-backed securities it sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the years leading up to the financial crisis through a program known as the High Speed Swim Lane (HSSL, commonly known as "Hustle").

Though they’re on the fence about the benefits for themselves, most lenders surveyed agreed that both changes would be advantageous to consumers. In fact, 76 percent believe that expanding 97-percent LTV loan products will be good for homebuyers, and another 81 percent believe the MIP reduction will be beneficial, too.

In the response letter, dated April 21, 2015, Treasury's Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Randall DeValk said that wanted to "clarify some misunderstandings" from some press reports regarding the agreement, and said that the government's $187.5 billion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with taxpayer funds in 2008 was not an "ordinary" loan.

The three fastest-growing areas of the country were largely immune from the effects of the housing crisis, leading Massachusetts-based Pro Teck Valuation Services to conclude that population growth is a strong indicator of home values, according to a report the company released Wednesday.

Approximately 350,000 borrowers eligible for re-purchase are currently unable to do so due to tight financial markets, and as many as 260,000 borrowers may never return to homeownership at all, the report says, because their former loans were backed by loose lenders.