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The mortgage industry had a lot to say late last week following the release of new draft standards for private mortgage insurers to work with GSE loans—and not all of the reactions were positive. U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI), a trade group comprised of a number of member insurers, was quick to lend its support in a statement, though not all member companies agreed.

Citi released its quarterly earnings report Monday morning, posting net profit of $181 million—a decline of 96 percent compared to earnings of $4.2 billion a year ago. The second quarter's results include a $3.8 billion charge related to a $7.0 billion settlement with the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group, also announced early Monday.

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.

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.

As home prices continue to rise—albeit slower than last year—many commentators insist that fears of a new bubble in the making are overblown. However, a new survey released Tuesday suggests lenders aren't buying it. In a survey of U.S. and Canadian mortgage lenders, FICO found 56 percent of respondents directly involved in the industry are concerned that "an unsustainable real estate bubble is inflating."

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Tuesday a 0.6 percent increase in its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) from May to June, putting the index at 115.8. The group links the increase in the headline index to "a slight net loosening in lender criteria regarding Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans with respect to minimum credit scores and maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratios."

In the post-crisis era, lenders face the challenge of striking a delicate balance between judicious lending practices and access to financing for creditworthy consumers. The deluge of mortgage defaults and foreclosures that has plagued the industry over the past half decade was set into motion by a subprime mortgage crisis characterized by lax lending standards, easy credit, and higher-risk mortgage products.

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, 46 percent of Americans polled expect home prices to rise, Fannie Mae reported in its latest National Housing Survey. That share is down from 48 percent in May and 50 percent in April. On average, respondents anticipate a home price change of 2.4 percent, down half a percentage point from the previous two surveys and the lowest forecast since January, when news of a slowdown in price gains affected attitudes.