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Carrington Mortgage Services has announced it has expanded its portfolio of government loan programs by offering U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans through its retail and wholesale lending operations.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.39 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending August 1.

First time claims for unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level in five years, falling 19,000 to 326,000 for the week ended July 27, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to edge up to 345,000, from the 343,000 originally reported for the week ended July 20.

While rising mortgage rates have set potential homebuyers scrambling, a poll from Redfin finds sellers are also concerned about the development. According to the survey, 47 percent of sellers said they are worried about a spike in rates driving down buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the last poll. An increasing percentage of homeowners are also anticipating larger price gains, though concerns over rising prices eased, falling from 32 percent to 29 percent quarter-over-quarter.

Despite concerns about rising mortgage rates and low inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted Wednesday to continue its policy of near-zero interest rates and its $85-billion-per-month bond-buying program. In a subtle change of language, the committee "reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends."

DocuTech Corp., a compliance and documentation technology provider headquartered in Idaho, hired Frank Colson as product manager.

Veros, a provider of collateral valuation technology, enterprise risk management, and predictive analytics, announced an update to its VeroSCORE appraisal risk scoring tool.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased for the third straight month in June, pulled back to 80.3 in July as its two sub-components moved in different directions. "Consumer Confidence fell slightly in July, precipitated by a weakening in consumers' economic and job expectations," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current conditions continues to gain ground and expectations remain in expansionary territory despite the July retreat."

Home prices rose to their highest levels in almost five years in May, increasing by a non-seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The 20-city index was up 12.2 percent from a year earlier, and the companion 10-city index was up 11.8 percent. For the month, the 10-city index rose 2.5 percent and the 20-city index was up 2.4 percent. The two surveys have improved month-over-month and year-over-year for 12 consecutive months.

Americans hold a more positive view of the housing market, while an increasing share of renters plan to own, according to the 2013 National Housing Pulse Survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they believe buying a home is a good financial decision, up by 8 points from 2011. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who say they prefer to rent over buying dropped 6 points since 2011 to 25 percent.