In separate statements Tuesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) proposed a rule that would require insured depository institutions of certain banks to meet a 6 percent supplementary leverage ratio to be considered ""well capitalized."" The proposal would also require covered bank holding companies to maintain a tier 1 capital leverage buffer of at least 2 percent above the minimum supplementary leverage ratio requirement of 3 percent, for a total of 5 percent, the regulators stated.

According to Consumer Reports Index, Americans are facing significantly more financial troubles than in June. One index, the Trouble Tracker, climbed more than five points to 39.2 in July, ""an increase that was entirely fueled by an epic 23.3-point jump among those households earning $100,000 or more,"" the organization said. The tracker measures the proportion of consumers that have faced difficulties and the number of negative events they have encountered. Negative events include a missed mortgage payment and home foreclosure.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Improving Markets Index (IMI) continued to elude any trends in July, slipping a bit after last month's increase. According to the association, a total of 255 metro areas made the list for July, down from 263 in June. The index improved for seven straight months before declining in April and May--only to turn around again at the start of summer. While July's report showed a decline month-over-month, the number of markets on the index was more than triple that of July 2012.

Fewer than 2 million homes remain in shadow inventory as of April, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. This puts shadow inventory at a supply of 5.3 months and represents an 18 percent year-over-year decrease. The data provider also reported shadow inventory is 34 percent lower than the 2010 peak of 3 million. Currently, serious delinquencies make up the bulk of shadow inventory. Out of the total for shadow inventory, about 890,000 are serious delinquencies.

The number of job openings edged up in May, increasing for the for the first time since February as hirings continued to improve, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). According to the JOLTS, report, the number of persons unemployed for each job opening in May remained at April's level of 3.07 but was down from 3.09 in February.

Examining data from Multiple Listing Services in 34 cities across the nation, Movoto found year-over-year declines in June's inventory in 32 of the 38 cities it tracks. The most drastic declines took place in Sacramento (-54.5 percent), Detroit (-47.1 percent), and Boston (-46.7 percent). Over the same time period, price per square foot increased in all but two of the cities Movoto observes. The exceptions were New Orleans (-2.2 percent) and Chicago (-3.2 percent).

Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) announced the promotion of Elspeth Spransy to VP of vendor management.

Kozeny McCubbin & Katz, LLP announced Sabita Hajaree-Ramsaran, Esq., who has been with the firm for over four years, was promoted to senior associate attorney.

East Coast REO and its affiliates will be joining the Compass Group of companies, according to a company announcement. Starting July 15, East Coast's real estate services companies will be rebranded under the Compass Property Services name as part of a long-planned reorganization.

According to Fannie Mae's latest National Housing Survey, 57 percent of consumers expect prices will continue to rise in the next 12 months--a survey high. The average price change expectation was 3.8 percent, a slight drop from May's high of 3.9 percent. More notable was the pickup in mortgage rate expectations. The number of consumers expecting rates will rise over the next 12 months spiked 11 percentage points to 57 percent, another survey high. Only 4 percent said they expect rates will drop.