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In an effort to streamline the mortgage insurance application process, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) introduced several changes to its underwriting guidelines.

Home inventories continue to decline in many markets across the country, but the pace of those declines appears to be slowing, which may in turn slow price appreciation in some markets, according to Realtor.com. National housing inventory declined 5.24 percent year-over-year in July, which is a slowdown from the 16.47 percent year-over-year decline reported in January. At the same time, the number of markets with declining inventory year-over-year decreased to 118 in July.

FirstREX, a real estate equity finance firm operating out of San Francisco, has brought on Don Shewmaker and Jim McGuire to help the company meet growing demand for its down payment funding program, REX HomeBuyer.

Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank and one of the country's largest privately owned mortgage companies, announced the opening of a new retail branch location in Northern Virginia.

According to Redfin's Real-Time Demand Pulse for August, the brokerage's agents continue to report declines in both the number of customers touring homes and the number of signed offers.

Realtor.com released its list of the second quarter's top "turnaround towns" in terms of market recovery, and California once again dominated the list. More notable, however, was the presence of Detroit, which--despite its recent bankruptcy--showed a strong performance. In fact, Detroit may soon be "one of the most balanced markets in the nation," according to Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, an online real estate network. The Motor City claimed the No. 7 spot after its inventory age fell to 45 days.

Even after witnessing the aftermath of the housing collapse and the crisis that followed, Americans still hold positive perceptions of ownership, according to a research study from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Despite these initial findings, the Center says more research is necessary to determine both the perceived and actual non-financial benefits of homeownership after the housing crisis--especially given the government's commitment to homeownership for American families.

The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions closed on Friday the Bank of Wasau, appointing FDIC as receiver. As of June 30, the bank had approximately $40.7 million in deposits and $43.6 million in total assets.

The Wholesale Lending Division of Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC announced the appointment of industry veteran Rey Maninang to SVP and national sales director for the company's wholesale channel.

NAHB's 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI)--a measure of builder confidence in that particular market sector--increased 24 points over the same period last year.