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Vacancy rates in rental housing were highest outside of Metropolitan Statistical Areas at 9.2 percent and were lower in principal cities at 7.7 percent and suburbs at 6.2 percent. The homeowner vacancy rate was also highest outside MSAs at 2.5 percent and was slightly lower inside principal cities at 1.9 percent and in the suburbs at 1.7 percent.

On a positive note, the CFPB reported that overall complaints declined 9 percent month-over-month, while mortgage complaints fell 7 percent from the prior month.

The Montana decision was the latest in a series of court victories won by MERS. In late September, MERS won similar decisions in Georgia, New York, and Texas. In Kentucky earlier in September, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an en banc rehearing of a case that held that recording statutes in the state do not required a recording in the land records when promissory notes are transferred.

In New Jersey, 16.2 percent of consumers have seriously delinquent debt (90 days or more overdue) or debt that was in third-party collections, compared with the national rate of 20 percent for the reporting period. New York and Connecticut also reported overall consumer distress rates (14.8 percent and 14.9 percent respectively) lower than the national rate.

Freddie Mac has obtained an insurance policy for more than half a billion dollars under its Agency Credit Insurance Structure (ACIS) program, bringing the total of insurance coverage the Enterprise has acquired this year to $1.5 billion through seven ACIS transactions, according to announcement from Freddie Mac.

The market share of non-depository, independent mortgage companies tumbled after the Great Recession with the collapse of the mortgage and secondary markets—especially those companies that were focused on subprime lending. In 2014, the market share of independent mortgage companies rose to 47 percent for home purchase loans and 42 percent for refinance loans, the highest those shares have been at any point in the last 20 years, meaning nonbank mortgage companies have more than regained their market share they lost due to the Great Recession

The predicted moderate economic expansion does not change the Conference Board’s outlook for housing, which is largely positive. Ozyildirim told DS News earlier in the week that, “The single family housing market seems to be heating up, despite some potential volatility. Construction companies and workers are busy while home prices and mortgage rates remain favorable.”

"Buoyed by strong employment growth, housing supply is struggling to keep pace with demand, which is driving house prices higher," Kiefer said. "Fortunately, low mortgage interest rates are helping to keep homebuying affordable for some prospective homebuyers."

HUD has announced that it is extending the deadline for reverse mortgage lenders to submit payable requests for home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs) that defaulted on or after April 23, 2015, due to unpaid property charges.

The latest STACR offering, STACR Series 2015-DNA3, is the seventh STACR debt notes offering this year of more than $1 billion by Freddie Mac. It is the 15th STACR offering since the program began slightly more than two years ago. Freddie Mac’s goal is to transfer a portion of its credit risk on single-family loans to private investors.