The Lede

Washington Post, June 27, 2019--Kathy OrtonMortgage rates hit their lowest levels since November 2016 on the heels of the Federal Reserve meeting last week. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 3.73 percent with an average 0.5 point. (MBA mention)

USA Today, June 27, 2019--Grant SunesonJust as home prices vary from state to state, so does the average mortgage debt.

Forbes, June 27, 2019--Francisco AlvaradoAccording to real estate research firm Attom Data Solutions, 7.2 % of all U.S. home sales during Q1 2019 were flipped homes, the highest rate in nearly a decade. But it's a cottage industry ripe for mortgage fraud that only gets exposed when an investment goes south, legal experts say.

National Mortgage News, June 27, 2019--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Small loans can be nettlesome for lenders given their lack of economies of scale and how thin mortgage margins have been, but they can pay off in other ways.

HousingWire, June 27, 2019--Jessica GuerinThe latest report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency showed an improvement in the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system during the first quarter.

Bloomberg, June 27, 2019--Saleha MohsinThe White House is developing a plan to cut taxes by indexing capital gains to inflation, sources said, in a move that would largely benefit the wealthy and may be done in a way that bypasses Congress.

Whittier Daily News (Calif.), June 27, 2019--Jeff LazersonStarting July 20 for Fannie and July 28 for Freddie, the income cap for these low-down payment loans that offer discounted pricing and discounted mortgage insurance gets cut to 80% of area median income or AMI. Currently, the cap is 100% of AMI. And, there is currently no income cap for properties located in low-income census tracts. (MBA mention)

American Banker, June 27, 2019--John Heltman, John Reosti (subscription)The Financial Accounting Standards Board is considering whether to consolidate or delay the deadlines for smaller firms to comply with a contentious new credit loss accounting standard, according to the association's chairman.

MarketWatch, June 27, 2019--Jeffry BartashThe pace of growth in the U.S. economy in the first three months of 2019 was left at 3.1%, revised government figures show, as stronger business investment offset a weaker increase in consumer spending.