Integra Group Real Estate found a reason or two to celebrate recently. According to a release, the firm posted a 28 percent increase in REO property transaction volume over the first half of this year.

Could mortgage rates be on their way back? That's what today's mortgage rates just may suggest. Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up by a few basis points to arrive at 3.62 percent, up from 3.59 percent last week. The GSE also found interest rates for the 15-year home loan averaging 2.88 percent, with 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages crawling to 2.76 percent and 2.69 percent, respectively. Bankrate.com likewise saw upward-bound changes in mortgage rates this week.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.42 percent this week as market watchers waited for news about the economy. Zillow found the benchmark home loan falling from 3.44 percent last week, only after peaking at 3.47 percent on Wednesday. Interest rates for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.76 percent, while those for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages hovered around 2.4 percent. Mortgage rates zigzagged across much of the rest of the country, falling 12 basis points in New York but rising by three basis points in Illinois.

The Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight recently chose five new firms to serve as its eyes and ears on the ground as the $25 servicer settlement grinds forward. The new secondary professional firms ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô including BKD, LLP; Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP; Crowe Horwath, LLP; Grant Thornton, LLP; and McGladrey, LLP ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô will assist settlement monitor Joseph A. Smith, Jr., over the next three and a half years. Each firm will assist BDO Consulting, a division of BDO USA, LLP, and the primary professional firm responsible for evaluations.

Mortgage applications went up 0.2 percent last week as refinance volume rallied at levels not seen for the past several years. The Mortgage Bankers Association found the refinance share of mortgage activity ticking up to 81 percent of total application volume, the highest since January this year, while the Refinance Index climbed 0.8 percent to its highest level since April 2009. The increase in refinance activity also saw a 6 percent decline in government refinance applications. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity declined to 4.1 percent of total volume.

State regulators shuttered a bank in Georgia this weekend, raising the bar to 39 for bank failures nationally this year. Jasper-based Jasper Banking Company fell dark with about $216.7 million in total assets and $213.1 million in total deposits. Stearns Bank National Association swooped in to sign a purchase-and-assumption agreement with the FDIC, as well as a loss-share transaction on $106 million of the assets. The acquirer assumed essentially all of the assets and deposits, along with three branches, which reopened under new management on Saturday.

Higher asking prices drove off foreign homebuyers and investors over the last year, with real estate firm citing a 10 percent decline in foreign interest for the U.S. housing market. Releasing its International House Hunter Report Thursday, Trulia found that asking prices rose 0.3 percent year-over-year, nixing helpful influence from still-falling home prices. The housing bust attracted a number of foreign and cash buyers interested in low prices and the safe haven of U.S. real estate investment, according to Trulia.

More applications ticked up as record-low mortgage rates spurred refinance applications to their highest level since April 2009. The Mortgage Bankers Association found that applications increased 0.9 percent from the week before. The Refinance Index climbed by 2 percent to reach the highest level in three years, with the refinance share of activity ticking up to 81 percent of application volume from 80 percent last week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity amounted to 4 percent of total volume from the week before.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slid to 3.35 percent, setting a new low for Zillow, as Europe braced for another wave of credit downgrades. The real estate Web site found the 15-year home loan averaging 2.8 percent, while interest rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages each hovered at 2.52 percent. She added that Zillow expects mortgage rates to remain near record lows as investors keep watch on economic stability in Europe. Mortgage rates zigzagged lower across the country, falling by as much as 10 basis points in Florida.

A major player in the ongoing Countrywide settlement dropped its suit against the defunct mortgage unit on Monday. According to news services, Walnut Place, otherwise known as Baupost Group, withdrew objections to a proposed $8.5 billion settlement currently under way with Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008. Several reports held that a tentative deal had been reached by institutional investors last year to settle allegations of systematic misrepresentation.