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The percentage of “new” severe delinquent residential mortgages reported for September 2015—that is, the number of severely delinquent loans that were current six months ago—was the lowest of any September since 2009, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ stellar October employment summary, which reported 271,000 jobs added during the month, is believed by many to be sufficient economic improvement for the Fed to finally raise rates. That October employment summary many not be so rosy after digging a little deeper into the data, Crowe said.

The Sunshine State has fallen to third in foreclosure inventory rate (2.6 percent) behind New Jersey (4.6 percent) and New York (3.7 percent) and is getting closer to the national average, which was 1.2 percent during September. Florida had the highest decline of any state in foreclosure inventory year-over-year in September—a 42.3 percent drop, from 4.4 percent in September 2014.

The class action suits claim the insurance policies were automatically issued to homeowners at rates approved by lenders, which were much higher than market rates. Homeowners claim they did not have a choice in the matter, hence the term “forced placed insurance.”

“These are big numbers that demand our attention,” said Nuno Mota, an economist at Fannie Mae. “However, considering that there are a number of affordability metrics currently used throughout the industry, are these numbers providing the most accurate view of the overall affordability picture, or are we only getting a partial view?”

Most renters are putting about 30 percent of their monthly income toward their rental payment, which makes saving for a 10 or 20 percent down payment difficult. This conflict forces first-time buyers and millennials to pursue other options when looking to purchase a home, such as help from family or friends.

In a market where house prices are low and income growth is strong, such as Columbia, South Carolina (another market in the eastern U.S.), the payments begin the life of the mortgage as 17 percent of the household’s monthly income; by the end of the life of the loan, the payments drop to 6.6 percent

Obama Administration officials such as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have warned in the last month that such a “recap and release” program for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would put the GSEs at risk of another bailout; however, the GSEs’ Q3 earnings reports showed a $475 million net loss for Freddie Mac and a decline of more than 50 percent in Fannie Mae’s quarterly net income (from $4.6 billion in Q2 down to $2 billion in Q3), prompting their boss, FHFA Director Mel Watt, to declare that they may need a bailout anyway.

During the debate, Florida Senator and GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio called Dodd-Frank an “outrage” that codified too big to fail instead of ending it as it set out to do, or claims to have done. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, now competing for the GOP presidential nomination, criticized the “vast overreach” of Dodd-Frank during Tuesday’s debate.

Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Nela Richardson, Chief Economist with Redfin.