Headlines

To help manage its expanding business and drive new growth, appraisal management firm Valuation Partners announced two promotions and one new addition to its sales staff.

Policymakers are apparently in no hurry to start hiking interest rates just yet, bringing back language from the last FOMC statement: "Based on its current assessment, the Committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy."

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that total application activity, including purchase and refinance numbers, fell 3.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending January 23. The decline also included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.

FDIC has released another new entry in a series of technical assistance videos created to help bank employees meet regulatory requirements in the mortgage space.

Months after partnering up as part of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) pilot eClosing program, real estate tech firm Pavaso and Utah-based lender Mountain America Credit Union announced that they have successfully pared the mortgage closing process down to a matter of minutes.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its monthly Consumer Confidence Index rose to 102.9 this month from an upwardly revised 93.1 in December. According to the group, January's reading was the highest since August 2007, when the index was at 105.6.

After more than a quarter of a century spent working for Freddie Mac, Frank Nothaft has moved on to serve as SVP and chief economist at CoreLogic, the property information firm announced.

Black Knight Financial Services named a new addition to its Data and Analytics division: Chip McAvoy has joined the team as VP of emerging products and technology.

Highland Community Bank, located in the city's South Side, closed its doors over the weekend on orders from the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation's banking division.

Black Knight Financial Services reported Monday that its Home Price Index (HPI) rose 0.1 percent month-over-month in November to a value of $241,000. Compared to a year ago, November's index was up 4.5 percent.