Government

Genworth Financial got the go-ahead to implement its comprehensive capital plan for its mortgage insurance business. The plan has been fully implemented as of April 1, Virginia-based Genworth announced. The plan is expected to reduce Genworth Mortgage Insurance Company's (GMICO) risk-to-capital ratio by about 15 points and lower the combined risk-to-capital ratio of the U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries by about 10 points.

For February, DataQuick found home prices grew in 34 of the 42 counties on a monthly and quarterly basis.

MortgageFlex Systems, Inc., a leading provider of loan origination and servicing technology, is growing its implementation team with the addition of two new professional services team members.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that Comptroller Thomas J. Curry has been named chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for a two-year term.

Construction spending rose 1.2 percent month-over-month in February, according to the Census Bureau. Spending rose both in the public and private sectors. On an annual basis, construction spending was up 7.9 percent in February, reaching an annual rate of $885.1 billion. Combined, construction spending in January and February totaled $120.1 billion, which is 6.6 percent above the spending observed in the first two months of last year.

Bradford Technologies Inc. announced the launch of CompCruncher 3, the third generation of the technology "that introduced statistical analysis into collateral valuations."

Sometimes a story just fits--and sometimes it doesn't. Given that maxim, the explanation from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for the drop in the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) for February has to be viewed with a jaundiced eye. According to the NAR, the PHSI dropped because of the low inventory of homes for sale. Of course, that wasn't offered as an explanation one month earlier, when the inventory of homes for sale dropped, and the PHSI increased.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a diversified mortgage servicing company operating in the Dallas area, says lenders, servicers, and investors are leaving money on the table by not doing their homework on oil and gas leases.

Personal income rose a solid $143.2 billion or 1.1% in February, dwarfing expectations and spending jumped $77.2 billion or 0.7%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, reported Friday. The data suggest the personal spending component of Gross Domestic Product remained strong in the first quarter.

Mortgage Executive Magazine named Guaranteed Rate the No. 1 mortgage company in America. In addition to taking the top spot on the publication's annual list of the top 200 mortgage companies, Guaranteed Rate has more loan officers included in the top 1 percent of the industry professionals across the country and has the most number of loan officers in the top 200 than any other company, with 30 included on the list.