Loan Application Activity Down Although Rates Hit 18-Month Low

Mortgage applications decreased 2.4% from one week earlier even though interest rates for conforming loans are at their lowest point in 18 months, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 10 found that the seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 5% from one week earlier.

USDA Program Improving Pricing; Oil and World Budgets; World Rates Continue Lower

Everyone's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the horrible shooting in Orlando. But yes, Father's Day is coming up, and the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.

USDA Housing Grows in New Mexico

USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner was in Columbus, N.M., Thursday to celebrate National Home Ownership Month with a groundbreaking ceremony to begin the construction of new homes in that community. USDA Rural Development provided a $403,000 grant to Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation to administer the Self Help housing program that will be used to provide technical assistance in the construction of the homes.

Business Highlights

A growing number of travellers are signing up for the government's expedited airport screening programs, only to face another wait. After angry fliers missed flights this spring because of lengthy security lines, government officials promoted the PreCheck and Global Entry systems.

Hensarling’s reform plan would repeal Durbin price cap

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, outlined an alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act that would include regulatory relief - including the repeal of "federal price controls" in the Durbin amendment - during a speech at the Economic Club of New York Tuesday. Hensarling said his bill will "provide much-needed relief to community financial institutions that are being crushed by Washington's 'one-size-fits-all' regulatory approach."

Appeals Court tosses out $1.27 billion judgment against Bank of America

A massive $1.27 billion penalty that was imposed on Bank of America in 2014 over mortgage loans it sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been overturned by an appeals court. Reuters reports : The Justice Department claimed Countrywide, which Bank of America bought in July 2008, defrauded government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them thousands of toxic loans.

Focus on demolition cost Ohio millions in federal housing funds

Vacant-housing demolition took up 90 percent of Ohio's request, but critics say asking for more mortgage-assistance funds would have ensured the entire application was viewed more favorably by the federal government. As the days passed, Ohio's application for upward of $250 million in federal housing money asked for more of the money to be devoted to vacant-housing demolition and less for mortgage assistance.