Government

With a swipe at both the President and the Congress and concerns about downside risks to the economy, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged and to continue its program of purchasing agency mortgage backed securities and longer term Treasury securities to maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative. Kansas City Fed President Esther George cast the lone negative vote.

The Census Bureau released Wednesday a report showing a decline in construction spending throughout March. According to Census data, construction spending in March was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $856.7 billion, a 1.7 percent drop from February's revised estimate of $871.8 billion. While total spending fell, spending for housing construction inched up. According to the report, residential construction spending was at annual rate of $301.6 billion.

Churchill Mortgage, a Tennessee-based leader in conventional and government-backed residential mortgage lending across 26 states, touted its continued commitment to local communities during April, otherwise known as National Volunteer Month.

Continental Title Holding Co., Inc., an independent title insurance agency with headquarters in St. Louis, announced the acquisition of Assured Title Company of Warrenton, LLC.

The nation's homeownership rate fell to 65 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to data from the Census Bureau.

Despite weakness in the Midwest, home prices posted their strongest year-over-year gain in almost seven years in February, according to the Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city Home Price Indexes released Tuesday. Month-over-month, the 10-city index improved 0.4 percent in February, while the 20-city index was up 0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, the 10-city index was up 8.6 percent, and the 20-city index rose 9.3 percent. Economists had forecast the 20-city index would rise slightly to 146.16, essentially unchanged from January.

Santa Ana's Stearns Lending, Inc., a nationwide mortgage lending institution, announced its inclusion on Mortgagestats.com's list of the 2012 Top 20 Residential Lenders Ranked by Volume.

LRES announced new features to its vendor portal website intended to grant licensed appraisers the ability to manage their property appraisal orders more efficiently.

Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Home Price Index rose 1 percent in February to $210,000, the company reported. Currently, prices are 20.6 percent below the June 2006 peak of $265,000. California cities dominated the top 10 list for metro area price gains, with 9 out of ten metros representing the state. Price decreases were also concentrated. According to LPS data, five out of the six states where prices fell month-over-month were in Connecticut.

In Santa Ana, California, Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC announced plans to extend its retail operation's 25-Day Loan Closing program. Under the program, Carrington commits to process any qualifying loan (from the time a file is submitted to underwriting to the time that it funds) within 25 calendar days, or the company will apply a closing cost credit of $500 to the loan once it closes.