Headlines

A new $2.5 billion GSE mortgage servicing rights (MSR) portfolio has hit the market. MountainView Servicing Group, acting as exclusive sale advisor to the MSR seller, unveiled the portfolio, which includes both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. According to MountainView, the portfolio is made up of 94 percent fixed-rate and first-lien product with an average loan size of $226,161.

A federal judge has ordered Bank of America to pay nearly $1.3 billion in penalties over a fraud case decided last year. The case revolved around a lending procedure referred to as the "High-Speed Swim Lane, "which prosecutors say was designed to churn out loans as quickly as possible with little regard for risk.

Leaders at the Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to move forward with the central bank's plans to gradually cut monthly bond purchases, a sign of growing confidence that the economy is trending in a more favorable direction. In a statement released following its July meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee announced it has voted to bring its purchases of agency MBS and longer-term Treasury securities to a pace of $25 billion per month.

As part of the recently developed NetDirector Certification Program, consulting company Firm Solutions announced it now offers a new training course to educate attendees and maximize efficiency through the use of NetDirector's features.

Comergence, a California firm specializing in the design and development of third-party mortgage risk management platforms, named Corey Przenkop as VP for business development.

The U.S. economy experienced a sharp turnaround from the first quarter to the second, fueling hopes of a rebound as the rest of the year plays out. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to an advance estimate released by the Commerce Department. Growth came in at the high end of a survey of economists, with the consensus forecast calling for an increase of 3.1 percent.

After fizzling out over the past several quarters, the post-recession refinance boom officially ended in the quarter, according to data from Freddie Mac. The mortgage behemoth released on Tuesday the results of its quarterly refinance analysis for Q2, showing that refinancing fell in the last three months to below 50 percent of total mortgage activity as rising interest rates have stifled demand.

According to an estimate from the Census Bureau, the U.S. homeownership rate was 64.7 percent in the second quarter, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the first quarter's previous low and 0.3 percentage points from the same time last year. It was the lowest rate since 1995. Homeownership continued to slide among the millennial age group, who find themselves burdened by high debt, tight credit conditions, and limited job prospects.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index reached 90.9 in the group's July survey, up from 86.4 in June. As of July, the index stands at its highest level since before the Great Recession. Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said the surge was fueled by strong job growth and a brighter short-term outlook for the labor market and personal incomes.

WFG National Title Insurance Company has added Anthony Nalbone to its team, naming the veteran development professional as agency sales consultant for the Southeast.