An old hand from the banking regulatory community took office Monday as the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós newest comptroller of the currency. The Senate confirmed Thomas Curry to helm the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in March. President Barack Obama first nominated Curry, an FDIC director, last year. He then served as chairman of the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós assessment appeals and case review committees. His record of service includes stints as first deputy commissioner and assistant general counsel in the Massachusetts banks division.

MountainView Servicing Group recently signed off on the sale of two packages of mortgage servicing rights for loans backed by mortgage giant Fannie Mae. The first package totaled $251 million in servicing rights and largely included 30-year and 1-year fixed-rate mortgages. The second package, worth $144 million in rights, comprised reportedly prime-quality 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. The company said that both were sold without bifurcation. Many major banks continue to sell and purchase servicing rights for mortgages as the economic recovery picks up.

The refinance share of originations ran up to 57 percent for independent mortgage banks during the fourth quarter last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group said in a fourth-quarter performance report Thursday that new numbers for refinance share reflected a jump from 45 percent seen in the third quarter. Chartered financial institutions and independent bankers profited by $1,093 from each loan made in the fourth quarter, a decline from $1,263 per loan in the third quarter last year. Average production income hovered around 58 basis points in the fourth quarter.

Mortgage rates changed little from last week, continuing consecutive record lows from previous weeks. Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.98 percent, down a notch from 3.99 percent, while the 15-year loan hovered near 3.21 percent, down from 3.23 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell from 2.90 percent to 2.86 percent, with the 1-year mortgage unchanged at 2.78 percent. Finance Web site Bankrate.com fielded few changes. The 30-year loan inched forward to 4.25 percent from 4.23 percent.

Home prices for non-distressed property sales ticked up 0.7 percent in February from January, even while figures for the same fell by 2 percent year-over-year, according to CoreLogic. The analytics firm said that home prices also marked a seventh straight monthly decline by falling 0.8 percent from January this year. Inclusive of distressed sales, the five states that encountered appreciation in their home prices at the fastest clip included Arizona (4.5 percent), Florida (4.7 percent), Michigan (5.8 percent), South Dakota (4.1 percent), and West Virginia (8.6 percent).

Weak economic news out of Europe and comments from the Federal Reserve chairman last week conspired to keep interest rates for mortgage loans near all-time lows ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and flat ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô for another week. Real estate Web site Zillow found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovering at 3.81 percent, down from 3.88 percent last week. The 15-year loan averaged 3.04 percent, even while the 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages hit 2.57 percent. The Web site found mortgage rates zigzagging in states across with the union, with those in California and New York each falling furthest at a clip of 11 basis points.

Scheduled increases for government premiums and springtime for a still-steady recovery helped drive up mortgage application volume by 4.8 percent last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The trade group also found mortgage applications headed up by 5 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index ticked up 4 percent from last week, with the refinance share of mortgage activity on a decline to 71.2 percent of total application volume, down from 71.9 percent from the week before.

The same week that 12 twisters reportedly touched down in Dallas/Fort Worth, residents got wind of that Saxon Mortgage Services will close shop at two addresses and terminate nearly 700 employees. The firm ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô under new ownership at Ocwen Financial Corp. ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô notified the Texas Workforce Commission and mayors of the cities of Fort Worth and Irving that it plans to move forward with 680 layoffs. Saxon Mortgage said that it had also informed employees of their eligibility for job retraining, reemployment services, and other state services for displaced workers.

Construction spending rose 5.8 percent in February from estimates last year to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $808.9 billion. The Commerce Department found Tuesday that figures in February went above estimates from the same month last year but fell 1.1 percent below revised numbers from January. Private construction expenditures grew to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $527.3 billion, roughly 0.8 percent below revised estimates of $531.7 billion from January.

Lawmakers seated on the Senate Banking Committee slated five nominees to head up regulatory agencies for full-chamber votes Friday. Committee Chairman Tim Johnson led the voice vote that cleared nominees for boards responsible for the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, and Troubled Asset Relief Program, among others. The nominees set for votes include Jerome Powell and Jeremy Stein for governorships with the Fed; Jeremiah Norton, for a board role with the FDIC; Richard Berner, for directorship of the Office of Financial Research; and Christy Romero, for service as TARP├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós next special inspector general.