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Housing continued to lean strongly toward a sellers' market in July, with time on market falling and prices becoming more favorable for sellers, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The survey shows the average number of weeks a home spent on the market in the three-month period ending July was 8.6 weeks, while the average sales-to-list-price ratio was 98 percent. California performed exceptionally well in all categories, while parts of the Midwest underperformed.

National home prices rose 1.2 percent month-over-month to $229,000 in June, according to Lender Processing Services' Home Price Index (HPI). Out of the 40 large metro areas LPS tracks, three in Texas reached new highs: Austin ($237,000), Dallas ($182,000), and Houston ($181,000). Denver also established a new high-water mark of $265,000. At the same time, San Antonio is just 0.3 percent below its August 2007 peak, while Honolulu sits 2.1 percent below its 2007 peak.

Loretta Kirkwood, an executive with experience in regulatory compliance and risk management, has taken a managing director role at CrossCheck Compliance, LLC, the Chicago-based company announced.

Vacancy rates in commercial real estate (CRE) markets are projected to continue declining at a moderate pace as rent grows modestly.

The FDIC's list of federally insured bank failures grew to 20 so far this year as two more banks collapsed.

A broad range of economic indicators paints a picture of an improving economy, according to the latest Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) released Thursday. The LEI increased 0.6 percent in July, reaching 96 for the month. An index score of 100 reflects the economic conditions in 2004. "The improvement in the LEI, and pick up in the six-month growth rate, suggest better economic and job growth in the second half of 2013," said Ken Goldstein, a Conference Board economist.

Harland Financial Solutions announced that clients using LaserPro can now take advantage of new services resulting from the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós expanded alliance with eLynx.

In Pennsylvania, LoanLogics unveiled enhancements to its LoanDecisions pricing and eligibility platform.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales dropped a stunning 13.4 percent to 394,000 in July. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to drop to 487,000 from June's originally reported 497,000. June sales were revised to 455,000. The report for July showed a slight shift to higher-priced homes as houses priced at $500,000 or more accounted for 11 percent of July sales, up from 9 percent in June. Homes priced at $300,000 or less represented 62 percent of all July sales, down from 64 percent in June.

The housing market experienced another downshift in July, with the number of homes under contract within two weeks falling to under 30 percent.