Government

Interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages and home loan amounts increased from May to June, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency indices of new mortgage contracts.

With many institutions still designated as "systemically important" or "too big to fail" even seven years after the financial crisis, a subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee convened for a hearing on Wednesday to discuss ways in which bankruptcy reform could end "too big to fail."

Although Federal Reserve officials determined that economic activity is expanding moderately, the housing sector has shown additional improvement, and job gains have been solid with declining unemployment, the federal funds rate will remain the same at a target range of 0 to 1/4 percent, according to the Federal Open Market Committee July meeting.

On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an enforcement action taken against Paymap Inc. for deceptive advertisement practices used to market a mortgage payment program.

The second in a series of three full Committee hearings examining the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on American prosperity, freedom, and financial stability five years after the controversial law was enacted took place in the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

Recent survey data from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research group found that many mortgage lenders are still applying credit overlays that are stricter than what Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, or Ginnie Mae require.

According to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce's Census Bureau, this quarter's homeownership rate is the lowest since 1967 and the rate has been on a steady downward fall since 2009 when the rate was 67.4 percent for the second quarter.

In a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions is urging the FHFA to keep the conforming loan limit at its current baseline rate of $417,000 and not let the limit drop any lower, citing that this change could interrupt a still-recovering housing market.

During his first year as the nation's top housing official, Castro has made several policy changes with the intent of increasing opportunity for more Americans to obtain affordable, sustainable housing. Several of those changes are outlined in an announcement from HUD on Monday including helping families and individuals secure quality housing, ending homelessness, and offering housing opportunities to all Americans.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson discusses how busing failed to address the lack of a racial utopia in America, but the Obama administration has recently implemented a new HUD rule that will "desegregate" housing.