June employment by nondepository mortgage bankers and brokers was little changed from the previous month, but later numbers could prove stronger given some influential lenders' interest in staffing up.

The regulators have yet to complete rules on regional bank supervision, community bank capital and other provisions meant to ease institutions' burden.

Mortgage rates were unchanged from last week, but going forward, they are likely to decline following investors' reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee's July 31 short-term rate cut announcement.

The Federal Reserve reduced short-term rates for the first time in years, and accelerated its plan to stop shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet by rolling maturing mortgage-backed securities into Treasuries.

Any growth in housing starts and home sales in the second half of 2019 will be muted by continuing inventory constraints and rising home prices, according to Freddie Mac.

Bond market investors acted cautiously in the wake of next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting and that likely resulted in mortgage rates moving lower this past week.

After three weeks of holding fairly steady, average mortgage rates ticked up this week, ironically due to investor optimism that the Federal Open Market Committee will cut short-term rates, according to Freddie Mac.

An important traditional tool of monetary policy has been diminished and may even become counterproductive in the future.

Bank of America says rate cuts could reinvigorate mortgages and that its digital and cards strategies will help it grab more market share to offset shrinking margins.

New-home construction fell in June for a second month as a drop in apartment building outweighed a pickup in single-family projects.