Daily Dose

Zillow's August Home Value Index, released Friday, shows that U.S. home values in August rose at a cool 0.1 percent from July. This cooling of price increases is good news for both buyers and sellers, as slow growth makes for a market in which final sales numbers are more in sync with actual property values.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI) increased 0.2 percent last month to 103.8, half the increase expected by economists. The index grew 1.1 percent in July and 0.7 percent in June. "The LEI continued to rise in August, although at a slower rate than in July," said Ataman Ozyildirim, economist at the Conference Board. "Despite concerns about investment picking up, the economy should continue expanding at a moderate pace for the remainder of the year."

Examining a sample of loans initiated in May, mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae calculated a closing rate of 61.1 percent for all loans in its August report, up from 57.7 percent in July's report. "The closing rate in August was the highest since we began tracking this data three years ago," said Jonathan Corr, president and COO of Ellie Mae. "This was further indication that lenders are working every deal and making sure leads don't slip away."

Experts gathered in Dallas earlier this week at the annual Five Star Conference and Expo to discuss the most pressing issues facing servicers—and "compliance" was the word of the day.

New York-based Mortgage Industry Advisory Corporation (MIAC) announced the offering of a new $50 million per month mortgage servicing flow portfolio. The portfolio, which is made up of more than two-thirds Ginnie Mae and nearly one-third Fannie Mae loans, is being offered by a "well capitalized mortgage company that originates nationally," said MIAC, which is acting as the seller's exclusive representative on the offering. The seller will provide full representations and warranties for the loans included.

Former Goldman Sachs executive Joshua Pollard on Wednesday sent a sobering 18-page report to the White House warning of a potential nosedive in home prices that could put the country back into a recession before the ripples of the previous one settle. According to Pollard, the former head of the Goldman's housing research team, home price appreciation is outpacing income, and the United States is on the brink of a 15 percent decline in home prices over the next three years.

Freddie Mac released Thursday the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing the interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) jumping more than 10 basis points to an average 4.23 percent (0.5 point), the highest level since the start of May. It was the biggest one-week gain so far this year. "Fixed-rate mortgage rates rose this week following the increase in 10-year Treasury yields being partially fueled by market speculation the Federal Reserve might change its interest rate guidance," said Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac.

According to the government's figures, privately owned housing starts last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 956,000, marking a 14.4 percent month-over-month drop. July's rate of new homebuilding was revised up to 1.12 million. While apartment construction has led single-family homebuilding in most of this year's previous gains, the opposite was true in August's report: Multifamily starts (five units or more) plunged 31.5 percent in August to an adjusted annual rate of 304,000, while single-family starts were down a more modest 2.4 percent to 643,000.

NAHB's Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes, rose four points in the group's latest reading to 59, nine points above the benchmark separating a market largely viewed as good from one viewed as poor. September's gain brings the index to its highest value since November 2005, NAHB reported.

In a survey of mortgage lenders over the third quarter, Fannie Mae found 85 percent of senior executives believe it would be difficult for most Americans to get a home loan in today's environment, up from 81 percent in the second quarter. To compare, only 50 percent of consumers polled in the company's August National Housing Survey said they think securing a mortgage would be difficult. Lenders were also more sour on their outlook for purchase mortgage demand over the next three months.