Government

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced Thursday that Treasury is extending the Making Home Affordable Program for another two years. The new expiration date is now set for December 31, 2015.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a disappointing 0.3 percent gain in its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) in April.

The nation's economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, slightly slower than originally reported, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said Thursday. At the same time, BEA said corporate profits in the first quarter were $1.97 trillion, down almost $44 billion from the fourth quarter. The last time corporate profits showed a quarter-over-quarter decline was in the first quarter of 2012. Corporate profits are considered a key indicator of employment trends.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in the last four weeks, increasing 10,000 to 354,000 for the week ending May 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Another spike in home prices drove Massachusetts sales down for the third straight month in April, according to the Warren Group.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Citigroup have reached a settlement over allegations of fraud in the selling of $3.5 billion of mortgage-backed securities.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Wednesday it has finalized amendments to the Ability-to-Repay rule first handed down in January this year. The rule, set to take effect January 10, 2014, establishes basic requirements designed to ensure consumers don't take on loans they can't pay back. According to CFPB, Wednesday's amendments are the result of months of input offered by industry groups and the public at large, embodying the bureau's efforts "to make reasonable changes to rule."

In Florida, ISGN Corporation announced the addition of former Xerox executive Nancy Alley as the company's chief product officer.

Ellie Mae announced that Veterans United has selected Encompass360 as its mortgage management solution.

Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Home Price Index (HPI) averaged $213,000 in March, an increase of 1.4 percent month-over-month and 7.6 percent year-over-year.