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The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index reached its highest level on record in September with a little more than 80 percent of markets qualifying as improving. Of the 291 markets that made it onto the latest Improving Markets Index, 242 were repeats from the previous month, and 49 were new to the list. However, the association noted that September's result was largely due to a change to the way Freddie Mac measures home prices.

LRES, a national provider of commercial and residential valuations and appraisal management, announced the opening of a new operations facility in Phoenix to accommodate the company's growth and to serve as a key component of its disaster recovery plan.

Friday's report on the August employment situation at the same time confounded analysts twice with a less than robust 169,000 month-month increase in payrolls and a staggering 58,000 reduction in the initial report on payrolls for July. While it may not be easy to reconcile the numbers in the employment situation report with themselves, it is even more difficult to reconcile them with other economic indicators.

Ascending mortgage rates are starting to weigh on homebuyers nearly as much as low inventory, according to Redfin's Real-Time Homebuyer Survey. Out of homebuyers polled, 63 percent said rates have impacted their ability to buy a home at least "somewhat." When asked how rates have affected their home search, 33 percent said they're speeding up their search before rates get too high, 20 percent said they're slowing their search, and 1 percent have stopped looking altogether.

Genworth Financial, Inc., announced Wednesday that the company is strengthening the senior leadership team of its U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI) unit with the addition of two key executives. Paul Gomez was recently promoted to COO of USMI, and George Reichert was named chief information officer (CIO).

Though the national unemployment rate continued to fall in August, disappointing payroll numbers over the last several months have analysts wondering what the latest jobs report might mean for the Federal Reserve's plan to taper its monthly asset purchases. "As it stands now, [the six-month payroll] average isn't much higher than it was a year ago when the Fed felt it necessary to launch QE3," commented Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for the firm.

360 Mortgage Group, a privately owned mortgage banker headquartered in Austin, Texas, has entered the top-tier mortgage market with Conforming elite, an aggressive new pricing program.

The nation's economy added 169,000 jobs in August as the unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 180,000 and that the unemployment rate would remain at July's 7.4 percent.

While price gains may paint a picture of a recovery well on its way, construction figures aren't as encouraging, according to an analysis from Trulia. While prices are up 11 percent year-over-year in August, according to Trulia, which monitors list prices, construction activity is lagging. Additionally, when it comes to price gains and increases in construction, markets tend to be experiencing one or the other, with markets reporting price growth seeing meager construction.

According to the Zillow Digs Fall Home Improvement Trend and Spending Survey, 52 percent of homeowners have some sort of home project in the works for the coming months. That number is down from 60 percent in summer, when people are more drawn to work outdoors. The survey's findings show homes with children are far more active in project planning, with 31 percent (versus 19 percent of those without children) planning three or more home improvements. Homes with children are also planning to spend a bit more.