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Home prices nationally fell slightly in October, marking the second consecutive month of declines after a long period of growth, according to the latest FNC Residential Price Index. Overall prices in the 100 largest U.S. metro areas were down 0.1 percent between September and October, and the annual rate of appreciation nationwide was down to 5.7 percent in October, the report stated.

According to the OCC survey, 92 percent of surveyed banks originated residential real estate loans in 2014, and a full 20 percent reported tightening their standards regarding who can attain these loans. Seventy percent reported no changes in their standards, leaving a comparatively slight 10 percent of institutions claiming they eased their standards for residential mortgages.

In an update on his continued oversight of the landmark agreement, Joseph Smith Jr. revealed doubts about the internal review group Ocwen is using to monitor the company's compliance with settlement terms. Smith said his team launched an investigation in May after hearing from an employee about "serious deficiencies in Ocwen's internal review group process."

According to a report released Tuesday from the Commerce Department, homebuilders began construction on new houses in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million, down 1.6 percent month-over-month and 7 percent year-over-year. Despite the retreat in housing starts, there were a few pieces of good news in Tuesday's report.

In its annual analysis of mortgage fraud across the country, LexisNexis Risk Solutions found 74 percent of mortgages submitted to its Mortgage Industry Data Exchange last year involved some sort of fraud or misrepresentation on the application. That figure compares to 69 percent in 2012 and 61 percent in 2011.

In a recent letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Community Mortgage Lenders of America (CMLA) urged the government to "take immediate action to cure the under-capitalization" of the GSEs by re-amending the payment terms established when they were forced to take a bailout after the crash.

Following a four-point uptick in November, the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index dropped one point to 57 in December, the group said Monday. A reading above 50 indicates that market conditions are viewed more as good than bad.

Looking at the year ahead, Fitch predicts a bounce in both supply and demand for homes as the economy continues to steadily expand and both employment measures and consumer confidence see improvement. With housing starts and new home sales expected to advance, Fitch sees a possibility of higher revenues for homebuilders.

A $1.1 trillion congressional spending bill proposed this week may avoid another government shutdown, but officials at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are less than impressed at the absence of funds for certain agency initiatives. "We are deeply disappointed programs that could have served millions of families will not be permitted under the bill," said Acting FHA Commissioner Biniam Gebre in a statement Thursday.

In a survey of 45 economists conducted by the Wall Street Journal, the panel largely agreed that throughout all of 2014, housing proved to be the weakest link in the economic chain, with weak household formations weighing down on demand and production.