Headlines

The balance of Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio stood at $436.2 billion at the end of October, representing a compound annualized rate decline of 5 percent from September, according to the mortgage giant's latest monthly volume summary.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index saw its fourth straight monthly gain last month, climbing to a reading of 88.8. The final index fell in between October's final value of 86.4 and a mid-month reading of 89.4 and was once again the highest level since July 2007.

Opus Capital Markets Consultants (Opus CMC), a Wipro subsidiary specializing in mortgage due diligence, announced the appointment of John Levonick as chief compliance counsel.

Valuation Partners, a Texas-based national appraisal management firm, announced it has successfully integrated with LendingQB's loan origination system, creating a seamless, more streamlined appraisal report process.

FHFA reported Tuesday that U.S. house prices, based on home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, rose 0.9 percent in the third quarter. While that does show a continuation of the growth the U.S. market has enjoyed for the past three years, the rate of growth is down from 4.5 percent compared to the third quarter of 2013.

FDIC-insured institutions earned $38.7 billion in the third quarter of 2014, a 7.3 percent increase from a year ago, according to FDIC's latest Quarterly Banking Profile. Mortgage loans, still hampered by regulations designed to prevent a recession relapse, dropped by nearly $7 billion.

Rushmore's newest office, which opened in San Juan on November 3, is the third location for the firm, which services performing, re-performing, and non-performing loans. It is also the first branch to open outside of the continental United States.

Santa Ana, California's First American Financial Corporation recently announced the appointment of a new SVP for enterprise data strategy, naming Dianna Serio to the position. Serio has more than 25 years of experience in real estate information, focusing primarily on data product development, title plant management, data acquisition, manufacturing, and delivery options.

Altisource Portfolio Solutions has added to its online offerings with the recent acquisition of self-directed real estate marketplace Owners.com, the company announced this week. According to the announcement, Altisource purchased the company for $20 million at closing, with up to an additional $7 million in potential consideration based on revenue earned in the next two years.

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, a closely watched measure of application volumes, dropped 4.3 percent for the week ending November 21, the group said Wednesday. The decline followed a 4.9 percent bump during the previous week, which included an adjustment for Veterans Day.