"The shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the union is strong," the president said early in his speech. The nation has experienced "the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years," Obama said. Obama touted the past year as "a breakthrough year for America" as job growth outpaced any year since 1999 and unemployment fell below pre-crisis levels.

ProTeck noted a census report that revealed a $5,000 increase in median household income in 2013 in Seattle as well as a Forbes Magazine article that listed Seattle as one of the best places for business. Amazon, Costco, Boeing, Microsoft, and Nordstrom all have a presence in Seattle, making for a strong job market.

September's increase in confidence is the result of optimistic outlooks on the overall economy and personal incomes. In fact, of the two components that make up the overall consumer sentiment index—consumer expectations and current conditions—a rise in the former is solely responsible for the positive movement in September.

A burgeoning young, knowledge-based workforce is contributing to housing and overall economic growth in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, according to the latest Home Value Forecast from Pro Teck Valuation Services.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently proposed an expansion of its consumer complaint database that would include publicly publishing full narratives of consumers' complaints against financial institutions.

The securities "would combine the best features of each of the current securities," such that "the security would have the superior pooling features of the current Fannie Mae securities and the superior disclosure features of the Freddie Mac securities," according to the Urban Institute.

Looking ahead, things don't get much better, according to Black Knight Financial Services. Beyond the next three years, Black Knight Financial Services predicts still-high payment increases as the next phase of HELOCs resets. Borrowers with HELOCs scheduled to reset in 2019 are using an average of about 40 percent of their available credit and will incur payment increases of about $200 per month based on their current rates.

The Federal Reserve's recent Senior Loan Officer Survey, which explored the topic of lending in the post-QM/ability-to-repay environment, led to various interpretations of the rules' ultimate impact on mortgage lending so far. The survey found lending for prime residential mortgages at large banks has not changed much since the new rules went into effect.

The ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules that went into effect earlier this year are not having a significant impact on approvals of prime conforming residential mortgage loans, but they are impacting the jumbo and nontraditional loan markets, according to the July 2014 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices conducted by the Federal Reserve.

Fannie Mae's book of business decreased at a compound annualized rate of 1.7 percent over the month of June, slower than the previous month's rate of 2.4 percent but continuing a streak of decreases that has persisted all year so far. Year-to-date, Fannie Mae's book of business has declined at a compound annualized rate of 2.2 percent.