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Standard & Poor's recent Lookout Report showed a solid reduction in the amount of recession-related concerns those in the U.S. financial markets are feeling and acting upon. The biweekly survey, created by S&P Capital IQ's Global Market Intelligence division, demonstrated that the drop in anxiety over the state of the nation's overall economic conditions was somewhat mitigated by rising fears over the European debt crisis. S&P's outlook also showed that U.S. home pricing has returned to levels seen in 2002.

In good economic news, payrolls picked up 120,000 jobs in Nov., helping shrink employment to 8.6 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the lowest in more than two years, according to The Labor Department.

Smaller mortgage originators are stepping up to the plate to make loans as larger lenders - encumbered by mounting litigation and repurchase claims - pull back from the servicing sector, according to a report released Thursday. Paul Miller, a financial analyst with FBR Capital Markets, based conclusions from the report on quarterly shares of market activity. He credited the retreat by larger lenders for reasons why rivals more than doubled their respective footprints in the mortgage market by the third quarter this year.

Mortgage rates largely stayed the same this week as trouble in the euro zone threatened to upend global financial markets, encouraging investors to stay near the safe haven of U.S. Treasury debt. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac and finance Web site Bankrate.com released separate weekly surveys that found rates hovering at or above figures seen for several weeks in a row. The GSE noted averages for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reaching 4 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the fifth consecutive week for lows for the benchmark loan.

The weak capital position of the Federal Housing Administration came into play at a hearing Thursday, where members of the House Financial Services Committee grilled HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Lawmakers took turns interrogating the Obama administration official over substantially fewer reserves in place to meet loan guarantees at a time when the housing market stays near bottom. The federal agency recently came under fire from news media, think tanks, and academia for failing to meet the minimum threshold.

Opening up new industry jobs in Tempe, Arizona, BBVA Compass recently announced that it would launch a mortgage operations center in the Southwestern city. The branch will be BBVA Compass' fourth mortgage-focused complex, and the company noted its growth in the sector as the chief catalyst behind the development of a new location in Tempe.

Mortgage Information Services, Inc., has completed its testing by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the company has been approved, taking its connection with the UCDP live.

M&T Bank was recently given an "outstanding" rating by the New York Fed for its performance under the Community Reinvestment Act, representing the highest possible ranking.

A new president has been announced at ServiceLink, with the appointment of Chris Azur to the prestigious position. Formerly the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer, Azur has been with ServiceLink for more than four years. In his previous role for ServiceLink, Azur was responsible for multiple aspects of valuations, title, and closing operations for the entity.

All-time highs for housing affordability helped elevate pending-home sales for October 9.2 percent above figures seen over the same month last year, with fewer bad appraisals scuttling deals across the country. The National Association of Realtors measured contract signings for homes last month against numbers from the month before and last year, which it released with the Pending Home Sales Index. The trade group recorded 93.3 for pending-home sales in October, up from 84.5 in September ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô 10.4 percent above figures seen during that month.