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Country Financial, a financial services company based in Bloomington, Illinois, found in a recent survey that 48 percent of Americans say the market could reach a bubble over the next two years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) started off its 100th Annual Convention Sunday with the election and swearing-in of its board of directors for the 2014 membership year.

Today's resilient capital market has the capacity to adapt readily to the pending ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules set to take effect January 10, 2014, according to a white paper CoreLogic released Friday. In its analysis, CoreLogic offers general support for the rules and suggests the industry will continue to prosper--albeit with more caution than in the years leading up to the housing crisis. "Making sure a borrower has the ability to repay is good business," the company said.

DataQuick, a specialist in property information and decisioning solutions, reported price growth "resumed at a rapid rate in September and spread to all" of its 42 reporting counties on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. In other findings, sales dipped in most measures, with 26 counties reporting monthly increases, 28 reporting quarterly increases, and 29 posting yearly improvement (compared to 29, 37, and 28 in August, respectively).

While the common mantra for real estate is location, location, location, an expert at private equity investment firm Siguler Guff & Company says commercial real estate investors should be focused on "timing, timing, timing." With real estate markets historically moving in cycles, the investment boutique says there are great opportunities between the valuation of a property at the bottom of the cycle and the value of that property when it comes to the top.

Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents, announced the hiring of Katherine Kitty Stevens, Esq. as VP of Florida agent training and business development.

Freddie Mac released Thursday its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) falling to an average rate of 4.13 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending October 24, down from 4.28 percent and the lowest level in about four months. "Mortgage rates slid this week as the partial government shutdown led to market speculation that the Federal Reserve will not alter its bond purchases this year," explained Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac.

Platinum Data Solutions, a technology provider specializing in collateral evaluation and quality, has launched all-new upgraded scoring functionality for RealView, its configurable engine that processes and analyzes appraisals for compliance and completeness.

Redfin's Real-Time Bidding Wars report shows 58.3 percent of offers written by Redfin agents across the country faced bidding wars in September, down from 60.5 percent in August. Last September, 62.7 percent of offers faced competing bids. With competition diminishing, Redfin has also observed a fall in the number of homes selling at above asking price. On average across all tracked markets, buyers paid 0.4 percent below asking price (compared to 0.3 percent in August).

Depressed construction activity is expected to continue weighing down both housing and the larger economy, Freddie Mac predicts in its latest Economic and Housing Outlook.