Headlines

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product was 3.93 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending December 11, Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 30-year fixed rate was 3.89 percent a week ago and 4.42 percent this time last year.

Statewide, sales of single-family homes increased 7.0 percent annually in October to a total of 2,379, the Warren Group reported this week. It was the best October sales figure since 2007, when transactions totaled 2,605. The year-to-date sales total came closer to catching up to last year, coming to 21,546—a decline of less than 1 percent.

In a testimony before the Senate Banking Committee's subcommittee on housing, Mabel Guzman, 2014 chair of the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Conventional Finance and Lending Committee, highlighted some of the biggest challenges constraining homeownership.

Movement Mortgage, one of the nation's fastest-growing privately held mortgage banks, announced that 35-year housing veteran John Ritz Miller will join the company early next year as regional director for the Washington, D.C., area.

RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing customers concerned about any issues surrounding their loan can now access the company's Consumer Ombudsman online, thanks to an upgrade introduced this week.

Total mortgage application volumes increased 7.3 percent for the week ending December 5, according to survey data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The jump, which includes seasonal adjustments, followed a drop of the same amount the week prior.

Indecomm-Mortgage U, a full-service training company serving the mortgage industry, announced the development of a new suite of training tools designed to help bring lenders in compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) soon to be implemented integrated mortgage disclosure rule.

Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island increased by 3.2 percent in October from the previous year, the fifth time in 2014 single-family home sales have increased year-over-year in the state, according to a report released Monday by the Warren Group.

In keeping with other recently released predictions, the latest housing forecast from market research firm IHS Global Insight calls for modest growth in home sales in 2015 following what's been a disappointing year. In her outlook, IHS economist Stephanie Karol focuses on two major trends that have shaped the housing market in 2014.

NMI Holdings, parent company of National Mortgage Insurance Corporation, announced a shakeup in its executive ranks, starting with the promotion of Jay Sherwood to the role of president.