The Lede

CNBC, Mar. 23, 2016--Olick, Diana Total mortgage application volume decreased 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fortune, Mar. 23, 2016--Huddleston Jr., Tom The IRS is running the challenge in partnership with the Mortgage Bankers Association, which is providing the prize money.

Reuters, Mar. 23, 2016--Mutikani, Lucia Sales of new single-family homes in the United States rebounded in February, but the increase was concentrated in one region, which could suggest a loss of momentum in the housing market as the busy spring selling season kicks off.

HousingWire, Mar. 23, 2016--Swanson, Brena TRID, aka Know Before You Owe, caused mortgage lender back office fulfillment and post-closing costs to increase by an average of $209 per loan since October 2015, STRATMOR Group reported.

MortgageOrb, Mar. 23, 2016--Barnard, Patrick Although several U.S. banks, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now accept e-notes (and, hence, e-mortgages), only about 350,000 fully electronic e-mortgages have been executed on the Mortgage Electronic Registry Systems system so far, which is not a great deal of adoption considering how long e-notes have been around.

HousingWire, Mar. 23, 2016--Barraza, Cynthia The mortgage delinquency rate hit its lowest level since April 2007 as it fully recovers from January's 6.6%, according to the latest report from Black Knight Financial Services.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 23, 2016--Light, Joe A group including some of the chief architects of the Obama administration's housing policy released a paper Wednesday outlining a new proposal for how to deal with mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 23, 2016--Collins, Brian The Federal Housing Finance Agency appears poised finally to allow principal reductions, but it's been nearly a decade since the mortgage crisis and underwater borrowers are much fewer thanks to higher home values.

Bloomberg, Mar. 23, 2016--Matthews, Steve; Boesler, Matthew Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said policy makers should consider raising interest rates at their next meeting amid a broadly unchanged economic outlook and prospects of inflation and unemployment exceeding targets.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 24, 2016--Mackintosh, James Central banks may be worrying about the lack of inflation, but some investors are fretting that the U.S. is heading for the wrong type of inflation: stagflation-lite.