Interest rates for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plunged to 3.72 percent this week on new concerns about debt crises in Europe, according to real estate company Zillow. In releasing the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, the Web site found that interest rates for the 15-year loan also fell to 3.01 percent, alongside 2.63 percent for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages. Mortgage rates remain low despite uplifting news from the continent, where 25 eurozone nations signed off on a new fiscal pact Monday.

Mortgage originations fell from a peak in September last year to hit 10.1 percent in December, according to Lender Processing Services. Revealing the latest data in December Mortgage Monitor report, the company also said that loans originated over the last two years consistently showed high quality, which it attributes to tighter lending and underwriting guidelines. LPS Applied Analytics said that risk attributes stayed near minimal levels, with credit quality for borrowers averaging 750 in 2011.

The latest analysis from a Fiserv Case-Shiller index said Monday that home prices could slide back by 3.6 percent this year, and may not completely pick up until the first half of 2013. Fiserv, Inc. found a double-dip that began last summer stretching into last fall as home prices declined in 340 of 384 metropolitan areas surveyed by the technology provider. It said some 302 areas slammed into new lows, and projected that home prices will fall in southerly direction this year before climbing by 2.4 percent over the second quarter next year.

A new federal task group set up to investigate residential mortgage-backed securities fraud made progress Friday when officials signed off on subpoenas for 11 undisclosed financial institutions. Numerous high-ranking federal officials joined New York Attorney General and co-chair Eric Schneiderman at a press conference to outline the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which President Barack Obama announced he would form during his State of the Union address Thursday.

Federal and state regulators shuttered four banks Friday, including one in Florida, another in Minnesota, and two in Tennessee. State regulators appointed the FDIC receiver in all cases, resulting in more than $600 million in accumulated costs for the Deposit Insurance Fund. The four newest bank failures raise the national tally to seven so far in 2012. Bank failures ended last year by hitting 92, down from 157 seen in 2010. An FDIC spokesperson says that 2010 signaled a high-water mark for closures.

Interest rates for mortgage loans went up for the first time in several months this week but remain near historic lows. Finance Web site Bankrate.com and mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported modest increases for mortgage rates across the board. Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rising from an all-time low of 3.88 percent last week to 3.98 percent this week, far below 4.80 percent seen for the loan at the same time last year. Bankrate.com posted a similar increase from 4.18 percent last week to 4.25 percent this week. Europe's debt crises have helped keep rates low.

New-home sales crawled to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 in December despite modest signs of recovery. The Commerce Department said Thursady that new-home sales fell 2.2 percent below expectations from November, which held that homebuyers would pick up a seasonally adjusted 314,000 homes annually. New homes from last month carried a median sales price around $210,300, with the average sales price hovering around $266,000. Experts suggest contract failures, foreclosures, short sales, and tight credit helped slow sales.

Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd resigned from his role as CEO of Fortress Investment Group Wednesday amid ongoing controversy related to a Securities and Exchange Commission suit. The company announced his resignation in a statement, not long after Mudd had decided to take a leave of absence from his role.

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee decided Wednesday to keep interest rates between 0 percent and .25 percent until 2014, even while the economy steadily improves. All but one of the Fed├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós governors voted to extend the policy enacted last fall for another two years, where originally the central bank had determined to delay higher interest rates until 2013. The Fed said that it made the decision in lieu of evidence from December that showed unemployment remaining steady. Experts disagree over whether low interest rates will help the market.

President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Wednesday to tout his accomplishments and propose several new housing ventures, including possible expansions to refinance programs, consumer financial protection, and new federal initiatives to combat abusive lending practices. The speech weighed in on risky lending practices in particular and went after Republicans for their opposition to his policies, including consumer financial protection. Experts remain on the sidelines about an expanded refinance program.