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August Employment Growth Lowest This Year

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase of 142,000 in U.S. payrolls last month, well short of the 230,000 predicted by economists. August's sudden slowdown snaps a six-month streak in which payroll growth came in at 200,000 or higher.

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Report: Nation’s Housing Unprepared for Aging Population

A new report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies and AARP posits that the population of adults age 50 and above will reach 132 million by 2030, a jump of more than 70 percent since the year 2000. But while their numbers are rapidly increasing, the amount of housing that is affordable, physically accessible, and located well is not, the report said.

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Report: Mixed Housing, Economic Picture in Alabama

While the state of Alabama has been slow to recover economically since the recession officially ended five years ago, the housing market's recovery in the state has struggled along with the rest of the nation so far this year, according to a commentary from Wells Fargo's Economics Group.

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Fixed Mortgage Rates Hold for Third Straight Week

Mortgage interest rates stayed fairly level this week, settling in ahead of Friday's August jobs report. Freddie Mac released on Thursday the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) coming in at 4.10 percent (0.5 point) for a third straight week, the lowest level seen so far this year.

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Mortgage Credit Availability Tightens in August

MBA's Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a gauge of credit access based on borrower profiles and underwriting criteria at lenders nationwide, slipped to 116.1 last month from 116.4 in July, the group reported. A decline indicates tighter standards overall in the market. Both the conventional lending and government-focused indices edged down as well, each declining less than a percentage point from July.

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NTC Hits Major Milestone in eRecording

In Florida, document processing provider Nationwide Title Clearing has hit a major milestone in its efforts to help the mortgage industry move into the Digital Age, announcing that 60 percent of its volume is now being submitted to county recorders in electronic form.

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Shift in Home Stock Hurts Lower, Middle-Range Buyers

Looking at the stock of homes for sale in its network of markets, national brokerage Redfin reported that, among the "mid-range" of home prices ($130,000–$375,000) available supply has actually fallen 17 percent over the last three years to a total of 668,000 as of July. In the lowest quartile of the market, the shortage is even more severe, with supply down nearly 50 percent since 2011.

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Analyst: Mortgage Market on Track for Meltdown

In a note sent earlier this week, equity research analyst Richard Bove at Rafferty Capital Markets warned clients of a potential mortgage crisis in the making, according to a report from CNBC. With the Federal Reserve on track to end its monthly bond purchases, Bove cautions that the loss of one of the tools used to help lift housing out of its post-recession rut could hurt the market, especially as interest rates start to tick back up.

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