Data

Cash-out refinance volume rose nearly 70 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2015, as borrowers took advantage of the increased equity available to them and historically low mortgage interest rates.

Following recent volatile stock market reports, the Global Economic Outlook from Fitch Ratings forecasts that the global economy will grow by 2.3 percent in 2015, the weakest growth recorded since the global financial crisis in 2009.

The lower-than-expected labor market gains for September brought the average monthly job growth for the year down below 200,000, which could possibly slow down the heretofore robust activity for the housing industry so far in 2015.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that residential construction spending increased 0.7 percent in August to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,086.2 billion from the upwardly revised estimate of $1,079.1 billion in July.

Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio declined at a compound annualized rate of 19.1 in August, marking the sixth time in the last seven months that the portfolio has contracted at the rate of at least 13 percent, according to Fannie Mae's August 2015 Monthly Volume Summary released Wednesday.

While student loan debt does play a role in the low homeownership rates among millennials, it does not fully explain why this generation is slow to purchase a home, according to Freddie Mac's monthly Insight & Outlook for September released Wednesday.

Existing home sales had a less than promising performance in August, but Auction.com's Real Estate Nowcast projects that they will pick back up in September. Realtor.com also predicts that lower prices and less competition will shift the housing market from seller's favor to buyer's.

Home prices across the country increased again in July 2015, rising 4.7 percent year-over-year compared to a 4.5 percent increase recorded the prior month. according to S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased three basis points from 4.02 percent in July to 3.99 percent in August for loans closed at the end of August, according to a index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A brief on the National Mortgage Risk Index and other risk measures Monday from the American Enterprise Institute International Center on Housing Risk revealed strong results for the housing market in August 2015 as mortgage credit loosened.