Daily Dose

With the substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market, as judged by the Committee, since the inception of the QE3 asset purchase program two years ago and the broader economy's underlying strength to support ongoing progress toward maximum employment in a price stability context, the Committee decided to conclude the QE3 program this month.

The highest percentage of residential mortgage loans that were seriously underwater in the third quarter were originated during the housing bubble between 2004 and 2008, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report for Q3 2014. The number of Q3's seriously underwater mortgages that were originated in the years following 2006 has declined steadily, though it has ticked back up in the last two years.

CoreLogic's latest Mortgage Fraud Report, released Tuesday, shows a 3.2 percent year-over-year increase in fraud risk among mortgages in the United States in the second quarter of 2014, as measured by the company's Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index. The report also showed that in Q2 2014, mortgage applications representing approximately $3.3 billion in mortgage debt contained elements of fraud or serious misrepresentation.

The CFPB Complaint Tracking Report, produced by Black Knight, will incorporate data contributed by both servicers and CFPB. Dori Daganhardt, VP of product marketing and market strategy at Black Knight, said she expects the report to help level the playing field in terms of transparency and education. She said the servicers and regulators will work together to determine the level of granularity contained in the report.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which fell to a revised reading of 89 in September, surged back up to 94.5 in the group's latest report. The recovery came mostly from a spike in the consumer expectations component, which jumped nearly nine points to 95, the Conference Board reported. The Present Situation Index, meanwhile, edged up to 93.7 from 93 in September.

A recent study conducted by Trulia shows that while Democratic- and Republican-leaning U.S. markets were affected similarly by the housing crisis, the most pressing current issues of the housing industry seem to be more severely affecting Democratic-leaning metros.

According to the company's volume summary, Freddie Mac's total portfolio grew last month at an annualized rate of 2.2 percent, bringing the year-to-date average growth rate to -1.1 percent. The only other time the portfolio came up positive this year was in July, when it expanded at a rate of just 0.1 percent.

According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate last quarter fell to 64.4 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from Q2 and nearly a full percentage point from the same quarter last year. The last time homeownership in the country was this low was in the first quarter of 1995.

The American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) National Mortgage Risk Index, released Monday by the group's International Center on Housing Risk, rose to 11.43 percent in September, little changed from the revised average of the previous three months and nearly 1 percentage point higher than a year ago. In keeping with recent trends, the index measuring risk for FHA loans was the highest, sitting at 23.99 percent.

On a monthly basis, the S&P Case-Shiller National Index showed a non-seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent increase from July to August, down from a 0.6 percent improvement in the July report. The narrower 10- and 20-city indices posted the same results, ticking up 0.2 percent each. Adding in seasonal adjustments, the picture for August is mixed.