Headlines

Nationwide valuation and review services company Allstate Appraisal, based in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and computer-aided appraising technology pioneer Bradford Technologies, based in San Jose, California, announced the launch of Valuation Express, a desktop appraisal product that incorporates third-party property inspections.

Dan Kenshalo has joined Black Knight Financial Services as the head of the Data & Analytics division’s Innovation Laboratory, the company announced.

Pennsylvania-based loan risk management firm LoanLogics has announced the introduction of a new signature examination tool that will make it easier to audit signatures contained in loan documents.

The CFPB Complaint Tracking Report, produced by Black Knight, will incorporate data contributed by both servicers and CFPB. Dori Daganhardt, VP of product marketing and market strategy at Black Knight, said she expects the report to help level the playing field in terms of transparency and education. She said the servicers and regulators will work together to determine the level of granularity contained in the report.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which fell to a revised reading of 89 in September, surged back up to 94.5 in the group's latest report. The recovery came mostly from a spike in the consumer expectations component, which jumped nearly nine points to 95, the Conference Board reported. The Present Situation Index, meanwhile, edged up to 93.7 from 93 in September.

According to the company's volume summary, Freddie Mac's total portfolio grew last month at an annualized rate of 2.2 percent, bringing the year-to-date average growth rate to -1.1 percent. The only other time the portfolio came up positive this year was in July, when it expanded at a rate of just 0.1 percent.

According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate last quarter fell to 64.4 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from Q2 and nearly a full percentage point from the same quarter last year. The last time homeownership in the country was this low was in the first quarter of 1995.

Out of San Antonio, diversified financial services firm SWBC announced the launch of SWBC Lending Solutions, a new provider of end-to-end offerings for the financial services industry.

Based on data from August real estate transactions, Black Knight Financial Services' Home Price Index (HPI) edged up just 0.1 percent from July, remaining nearly flat at $242,000. August's rate of appreciation was half of July's already slow 0.2 percent gain in prices. Annually, the index was up 4.9 percent from last year compared to a gain of 5.1 percent in July.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Monday two deputy comptroller appointments, naming Darrin Benhart as deputy comptroller for supervision risk management and Bethany Dugan as deputy comptroller for operational risk.