Headlines

In a report released Thursday, Trluia's Jed Kolko warned that falling oil prices—which have since July dropped by half from $100 a barrel—threaten worldwide oil-producing economies. At home, this drop could foretell a drop in home sale prices in the country's most oil-producing states, chiefly Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

Less than a year after he first joined the company as national account executive, First Valuation announced this week the promotion of Jordan Wilde to the position of VP of sales and marketing.

HUD Secretary Julian Castro is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club (NPC) luncheon on January 13 to address the state of the housing industry and what HUD's plans are for 2015, the NPC announced on Tuesday.

December was the fourth consecutive month and the eighth month out of the last nine in which more than 200,000 jobs were added nationwide. The highest total of jobs added during any one month in 2014 was 297,000 in June. The year began with just 121,000 jobs added in January.

LRES, a national firm specializing in residential and commercial valuations and asset management services, announced that Candice Merriweather has joined the team as VP and national sales manager.

Southfield, Michigan-based lender GTL Investments, Inc., recently agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle claims regarding the origination of federally-backed mortgage loans that were not properly underwritten, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade.

In California, mortgage software and services provider Ellie Mae announced the promotion of Jonathan Corr to the position of CEO.

The new year brought with it a new mortgage servicing rights (MSR) opportunity for interested buyers: a GSE portfolio valued at $4.2 billion in aggregate unpaid principal balance. According to MountainView Servicing Group, the portfolio is entirely made up of fixed-rate and first-lien product and features low delinquencies.

LenderLive Network, an end-to-end mortgage services provider with headquarters in Denver, announced the hiring of Lorie Helms as chief information officer (CIO).

The case scheduled to be heard later this month centers on claims that the Texas state housing department's fixed criteria for approving tax credits for low-income housing developers resulted in the approval of such credits for a larger percentage of developers in areas more heavily populated by minorities than in areas more populated by whites.