The Lede

CNBC, Mar. 15, 2017--Diana OlickTotal mortgage application volume rose 3.1 percent last week from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted tally from the Mortgage Bankers Association remains 12 percent lower than a year ago, when refinance volume was much more robust.

Chicago Tribune, Mar. 15, 2017--Gail MarksJarvisFor the first time since the Great Recession, the central bank sounds serious about raising interest rates, and additional rate hikes are possible this year and into 2018. The next opportunity for the Fed to tinker with interest rates will be at its June meeting.

New York Post, Mar. 15, 2017Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank have reached a $165 million class-action settlement of investor claims over their underwriting for the now-bankrupt subprime lender NovaStar Mortgage.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 15, 2017--Kate Berry (subscription)Nationstar Mortgage agreed on Wednesday to pay $1.75 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for failing to accurately report home mortgage data that is used to identify discrimination.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 15, 2017--Josh Barbanel (subscription)The number of contracts signed rose 24% in January and 16% in February compared with the same months in 2016.

CBS Austin (Texas), Mar. 15, 2017--Adela UchidaFour bills filed in the state legislature aim to stop so-called 'wrap mortgages' by tightening the legal loopholes around them.

Reuters, Mar. 15, 2017--Lucia MutikaniU.S. retail sales recorded their smallest gain in six months in February amid delays in tax refunds, but the biggest rise in the annual inflation rate in nearly five years pointed to rising price pressures that could support further interest rate hikes.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 16, 2017--Liz Hoffman; Serena Ng (subscription)Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has become the largest buyer of severely delinquent home loans from mortgage giant Fannie Mae over the past year and a half, acquiring nearly two-thirds of $9.6 billion in loans the agency has auctioned, government records show.

HousingWire, Mar. 15, 2017--Brena SwansonDemocrats are racing against the clock to defend the embattled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has a growing pile of government and judicial scenarios at play trying to overhaul it or abolish it altogether.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 15, 2017The volume of loans used to finance a home purchase is expected to see a 60 percent quarter-over-quarter surge as refinances drop.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 15, 2017Ellie Mae said as refinances took up a smaller share of monthly residential loan originations, government share widened, and loan approvals got easier.