The Lede

Washington Post, Mar. 1, 2018--Kathy OrtonAccording to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 4.43 percent with an average 0.5 point.  It was 4.40 percent a week ago and 4.10 percent a year ago.

Wall Street Journal, Mar. 1, 2018--Benjamin Parkin (subscription)Builders say the higher lumber costs are making homes more expensive. Lumber prices started rising last year after fires destroyed prime forests and a trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada restricted supplies. Now a shortage of railcars and trucks is forcing builders to pay even more.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 1, 2018--Kate Berry (subscription)Mick Mulvaney, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said Thursday the agency may allow prudential regulators to take the lead on more supervisory matters to cut down on duplication and ease the burden of exams on financial firms.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 1, 2018--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)The servicing business drove Nationstar Mortgage Holdings' fourth-quarter profitability and will be a major factor going forward after the company is acquired by WMIH.

Bloomberg, Mar. 1, 2018--Jesse HamiltonWells Fargo & Co. is likely to remain under unprecedented growth restrictions imposed last month for a "significant period," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday.

Bloomberg, Mar. 1, 2018--Prashant GopalAn increase in U.S. mortgage interest rates is throwing ice water on the great American refi -- and choking off business for lenders. Refinancings as a share of home loan applications fell to 41.8 percent last week. With a couple of exceptions, that's the lowest level since the financial crisis in 2008, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Associated Press, Mar. 1, 2018Equifax is saying that an additional 2.4 million Americans were impacted by last year's data breach, however these newly disclosed consumers had much less personal information stolen.

The Hill, Mar. 1, 2018--Julia ManchesterHUD Secretary Ben Carson on Thursday ordered his agency to cancel an order for a $31,000 dining room set for his personal office.

Mortgage Daily, Mar. 1, 2018Last month's volume turned out to be the lowest level of monthly agency securitizations since February 2016.

Dallas Morning News, Mar. 1, 2018--Kevin KrauseLonnie Brantley Jr. avoided prison by striking a plea deal for lying to federal housing regulators during an investigation into his troubled mortgage lending business. But almost three years after his 2015 conviction, Brantley is facing the prospect of being locked up.

National Mortgage News, Mar. 1, 2018--Bonnie Sinnock, Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Ocwen Financial Corp.'s $360 million bid to buy PHH Corp. is intended to alleviate a multitude of regulatory and financial strains that have plagued both companies for years. But the deal also raises a number of questions for investors, borrowers and regulators.

HousingWire, Mar. 1, 2018--Ben LaneIt appears that Equifax's massive data breach, which impacted nearly 148 million people in the U.S. alone, didn't hurt the company's bottom line in 2017.

Bloomberg, Mar. 1, 2018--Edvard PetterssonCBRE Group Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate services provider, accused a former vice chairman of its retail group of stealing almost half a million files of proprietary information and trade secrets before he left last month to form his own company.