The Lede

Fox Business, July 30, 2019--Brittany De LeaOutstanding mortgage balances during the first three months of the year rose once again, according to credit reporting agency Experian, to a new record high of $9.5 trillion--"well above" levels reported during the peak of the housing crisis.

HousingWire, July 30, 2019--Jessica GuerinOneWest Bank is finally able to put two-year-old allegations of housing discrimination to rest as HUD approved a settlement Monday that will see the bank hand over a chunk of change to end the ordeal.

Bloomberg, July 30, 2019--Prashant Gopal, Reade Pickert, Noah BuhayarLow mortgage rates and thriving employment should be the recipe for a strong housing market. Instead, they're deepening America's affordability crisis.

Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2019--Nick Timiraos (subscription)The Federal Reserve is expected to say Wednesday it will reduce its benchmark interest rate by one quarter percentage point. That would mark just the fifth time in the past 25 years that the central bank switched from raising to lowering rates.

American Banker, July 30, 2019--Kate Berry (subscription)The idea of testing a fintech product while getting direct regulatory feedback should be music to a banker's ears, but the industry appears leery of an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plan to allow for that very thing.

Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2019--Peter Grant (subscription)Goldman Sachs's newly reorganized real estate investment unit is reviving a fund business the firm shut down after it suffered steep losses during the financial crisis.

MISMO announced release of its Business Reference Model for a 60-day member comment period through Sept. 29.