The Lede

CNBC, June 28, 2017--Diana OlickThe Mortgage Bankers Association's adjusted index is now down 17 percent compared to the same week one year ago.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 28, 2017--Hal M. Bundrick (NerdWallet)For first-time home buyers, the challenge of coming up with a 20% mortgage down payment is often difficult enough to keep them out of the market. But the fact is, the 20% down payment is all but dead - and has been for quite some time, especially for first-time buyers.

GoRion, June 28, 2017--Sam BourgiAfter a rocky start to Q2, home sales bounced back in May as property values surged to record highs.

National Mortgage News, June 28, 2017--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)The First American Loan Defect Index was 83, up 2.5% from April and 13.7% over May 2016. Defects and misrepresentations are an indicator of fraud connected with the mortgage application.

Mortgage Orb, June 28, 2017--Patrick BarnardSo what impact will this "quantitative tightening" have on the mortgage market? As many economists point out, shrinking the balance sheet is not that risky in and of itself; rather, it is how the process is managed that could cause market volatility.

HousingWire, June 28, 2017--Sarah WheelerPerhaps the most distrubing aspect of the attack, from a financial institution's perspective, is that it originated in a third-party service provider, proving that hackers have identified one of the weak spots in the financial ecosystem.

Reuters, June 28, 2017--Jonathan StempelStocks of large U.S. home builders and building materials companies are poised to rise as millennials age and need housing, according to Bill Smead, the chief executive of Smead Capital Management.

Mortgage Daily, June 28, 2017Reputations in the banking industry among U.S. consumers have continued to recover, according to the 2017 Survey of Bank Reputations.

HousingWire, June 28, 2017--Brena SwansonSmall lender and affordable housing association groups worked together to create a joint release of GSE reform principles in order to ensure the safety of their respective members; the Mortgage Bankers Association earlier this year issued its own GSE reform white paper.

National Mortgage News, June 28, 2017--Austin Kilgore (subscription)With tighter available inventory, finding a great deal on a home is proving more difficult. But the combination of home prices and local wages is making some markets more attractive than others.

New in today's issue of MBA Insights:  Evaluations are as much a part of the lending arena as the credit underwriting concepts, but when is it appropriate to use this alternative product is of constant debate.