Data and information management

As part of its June national housing survey, Fannie Mae found that 35% of consumers expect home values to increase over the coming 12 months.

FHA lenders originated $78.2 billion of purchase mortgages during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, down from $86.3 billion during the same period in FY 2011.

Mortgage rates spiked briefly as the first quarter came to a close, raising the prospect that a rebound in refinancings originating in the fourth quarter would peter out.

Enhancements to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program rolled out in February and March allowed almost 500,000 GSE borrowers to refinance their high LTV loans.

Redfin predicts U.S. home sales in August to increase slightly on a year-over-year basis.

Total employment in the mortgage industry was flat in May, but the ground has been shifting over the past few months with brokerage firms hiring while other lenders have been cutting back.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the week ending July 5 dropped by four basis points to yet another record low of 3.62%.

Delinquency rates on home equity lines of credit edged up in the first quarter compared to the quarter prior.

DebtX priced 55,510 commercial real estate loans with an aggregate principal balance of nearly $766 billion that were collateral for securitizations in May.

Closed-escrow home sales in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in May jumped 6.1% to 4,829 from the month before, representing a 5.7% increase for the month on a year-to-year basis and a high not seen during that month in six years.

House prices rose 1.8% in May as the CoreLogic house price index registered its third consecutive monthly increase this spring, and its new pending HPI is indicating that prices will rise another 1.4% from May to June.

Attorney Robert Maddox, who represents Ally Financial, calls the landmark foreclosure settlement earlier this year "a Trojan horse for the government to fix perceived problems in mortgage servicing" but others dispute the view that the punishment was too severe.

CoreLogic released numbers showing there were 63,000 completed foreclosures in May, compared to 77,000 finished foreclosures during the same time period last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the average profit per loan originated in the first quarter was $1,654, up from $1,093 in the fourth quarter.

Brian Vieaux has joined Flagstar Bank as senior vice president and head of its home lending division.

The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending sales index jumped nearly 6% in May back to 101.1, the same level in March and the highest this year.

Freddie Mac purchased $30.7 billion in residential mortgages from lenders in May, up 19% from April.

The S&P Case-Shiller house price index rose 1.3% in April for the first time since August.

The Census Bureau reported that sales of newly built single-family homes rose to a 369,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in May from a 343,000 rate in April.

California pending home sales for May were flat from April, but posted double-digit gains from a year ago for the fourth straight month.