Government

Reality television star Camille Grammer, best known for her high-profile marriage and divorce with actor Kelsey Grammer, has put her Malibu, California, estate on the market for $17.9 million. The large home, which Realestalker.com dubs a family compound, sits on 4.77 acres, and the gated property includes equestrian facilities, a tennis court, swimming pool, lily pond, and two spas.

Home prices rose 6.9 percent in the second quarter, according to the Case-Shiller Index compiled by Standard & Poor's, the strongest quarter-over-quarter gain since the index began in 1987, S&P reported Tuesday. Separately, the monthly 10- and 20-city index rose 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent respectively in June, S&P said. The two indexes were up 0.1 percent and 0.5 percent respectively in the last year, the first year-year gains in the monthly measures since September (20-year) and October (10-year) 2010.

A developer and restaurateur from Virginia pled guilty Friday for his role in a massive bank fraud scheme that contributed to the collapse of Bank of the Commonwealth, SIGTARP and federal officials announced Monday in a statement. Thomas E. Arney, 56, of Chesapeake, Virginia pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, and making false statements, according to the statement. Arney faces sentencing on December 3, 2012 and could receive a maximum penalty of 20 years ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô five years each for the conspiracy and false statement counts.

The Federal Reserve said Monday that it may delay rules under Dodd-Frank related to stress tests for big banks until next year. According to a release, the change would hold off on implementation until September 2013, giving some elbow room to banks, state member banks, and savings and loans institutions with anywhere between $10 billion and $50 billion in total assets. The move follows a December 2011 rulemaking proposal to green-light rules and procedures for stress tests under Dodd-Frank.

Five new faces joined the board of directors at the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight on Monday. The five include former banking commissioners, politicians, attorneys, and academics, with Mississippi banking commissioner John Allison and former North Carolina Gov. James Holshouser notably joining the board. Although board members, the five will serve only in functional roles for the mortgage settlement office. None will bring any decision-making power to bear on the national settlement.

Online portal Loans.net has revealed data that indicates a significant uptick in loan applications and approvals during August. Attributing the rise to economic improvements and decreasing unemployment rates in the U.S., Loans.net reported a 30 percent elevation in website traffic in the second and third weeks of the month.

Just how important is disclosure to American borrowers? Very important, if the figures from a recent Harris Interactive survey mean anything. MortgageMarvel.com commissioned a survey of 2,214 American adults 18 years or older to learn that one full-quarter of Americans take disclosure into account when considering their next home loan. Sixteen percent wanted an easy comparisons process, 10 percent affirmed their interest in privacy, and 7 percent cited a want of real-time quotes.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced an important milestone Thursday ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the final sale of its remaining securities from the 2008 AIG bailout. The final sales from Maiden Lane III, one of the struggling mortgage-related portfolios the Fed usurped in 2008, brought the Fed├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós total profit from AIG securities to $6.6 billion. The Fed has been shedding its AIG securities since early this year with the sale of its final Maiden Lane II securities in February, followed by sales of some Maiden Lane III securities in June.

Fifth Third Bank outshined all other servicers in Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards Program in 2011. The bank came closer than any other bank to receiving four out of five available stars for performance in foreclosure prevention. A five-star rating ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£represents superior performance wherein the servicer is meeting or exceeding Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós targets,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø according to Fannie Mae. No Servicer came close to this rating in 2011.

New home sales regained all the ground they lost in June, jumping by 13,000 to an annualized rate of 372,000 in July, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected the report to show a sales pace of 362,000. Sales for June were revised up to 359,000 from the originally reported 350,000. Both the median and average sales price of a new home though dropped month-over-month and year-over-year according to the report, each falling to the lowest level since January.