Headlines

ClosingCorp, a provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technology for the mortgage and real estate services industries, recently announced a new partnership with Bills.com, the leading resource for free and personalized money help.

Steven L. Antonakes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)'s second-in-command official, announced Thursday in a memo to employees that he is stepping down from his position with the CFPB. Before being appointed as the CFPB's Deputy Director, Antonakes served as the Bureau's Assistant Director of Large Bank Supervision.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in July reached new heights not seen since November 2005. According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Thursday, builder confidence hit a level of 60 in July, while the June reading was upwardly revised one point to 60.

Investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs reported their highest first half net revenues in five years at $9.07 billion, according to the firm’s Q2 2015 earning statement released Thursday. Citigroup also experienced significant year-over-year growth in their net income with revenue reaching $4.8 billion for the bank, compared to $181 million for the same quarter last year, according to the bank’s earnings statement also released on Thursday.

Prominent Democrats on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees recently brought concerns about the a Federal Housing Administration lending proposal that could make it easier for lenders with a criminal history to continue accessing taxpayer-backed mortgage insurance.

The director of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the Bureau's perceived lack of oversight and accountability in a full committee hearing titled "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress" on Tuesday.

BOK Financial, a regional financial services company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, recently announced that it has named Glenn Brunker to lead BOK Financial Mortgage. In his new role, Brunker will manage all mortgage origination channels. He will replace Ben Cowen, who resigned from BOK Financial earlier this year to pursue another career opportunity.

Bank of America reported a net income of $5.3 billion for Q2, more than twice the bank's net income from the same quarter in 2014, according to the bank's Q2 2015 earning statement released Tuesday. U.S. Bancorp and PNC also posted solid growth in Q2 with net incomes of $1.48 billion and $1.0 billion, respectively, Tuesday in their earnings statements.

For the fifth consecutive month, appraiser home value opinions dropped further below homeowner estimates in June, according to a recent report from Quicken Loans. The mortgage lender reported that appraiser opinions of home values were 1.4 percent lower than homeowner estimates, according to their monthly national Home Price Perception Index (HPPI).

As home prices continue to increase and the market picks up momentum, more properties are being sold at a discounted price. In a recent blog from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), author Scholastica Cororaton, a research economist at NAR found that 63 percent of properties sold at a discount compared to the listing price in May 2015, according to the May 2015 Realtors Confidence Index Survey.