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Continued speculation surrounding the Federal Reserve├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós bond purchase program drove long-term mortgages rates down this week, according to reports from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, noted the decrease in fixed rates was likely the result of disappointing numbers for new home sales in July. While Bankrate also pointed to new home sales as a factor in this week's rate movements, developments abroad may have figured in, as well.

Second quarter growth was calculated at a seasonally adjusted annual 2.5 percent rate, a sharp increase from the 1.7 percent initially reported for gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the nation's economy, a month ago.

Southwest Bank's own Tom Tallent has been elected as secretary/treasurer of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA) for the 2013-2014 term, the company announced.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions (WGS), a Wipro Technologies company headquartered in Tennessee, announced its integration with the Xerox Mortgage Services BlitzDocs network to provide lenders with improved communications and enhanced document imaging.

Responding to higher mortgage rates and higher prices, the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) slipped 1.3 percent in July--the steepest decline this year--to 109.5, the group reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index for July would drop to 109.8, which would have been a 1.0 percent decline from June's 110.9. Despite the month-over-month decline, July's PHSI is up 6.7 percent over the same month last year.

While the national homeownership rate sat at a disappointing 65 percent as of the end of 2013's second quarter, data collected and published by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows local market conditions have created a huge gap between state homeownership figures. In a blog for the association, Ken Fears, NAR's manager of regional economics and housing finance policy, notes that the dispersion ranges equally around the national average, with a gap of 22.4 percentage points between the top and bottom states.

Churchill Mortgage, a Tennessee-based provider of conventional and government-insured residential mortgages across 30 states, named Cara Costa as its newest VP of operations.

The Conference Board released on Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index for August, showing a slight upward tick following July's decline. According to the latest update, the index now stands at 81.5, up half a point from July. Lynn Franco, director of economist indicators for the Conference Board, said the increase was "a result of improving short-term expectations." On the other hand, consumer opinions regarding the present economic climate were less charitable.

After observing a slowdown in sales throughout June--typically the peak selling month for the year--online brokerage Redfin reported a rebound in July, though other market indicators continue to cool. According to Redfin's data, "this July saw a healthy jump in homes sold throughout most of the 19 markets covered in this report," improving 3 percent month-over-month and 17.6 percent year-over-year from a rather disappointing July 2012. At the same time, reports on home price growth and inventory were less positive in July.

Home prices rose in June to their highest levels in almost five years, increasing 2.2 percent, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday.