Data

A troubled year for housing surfaced in a February housing scorecard from the Obama administration Friday, underscoring a still-unsteady pace for home prices, mortgage origination volume, and housing supply. Jointly released by HUD and the Treasury Department, the scorecard reflects an industry still in transition from crisis to recovery. The scorecard cited a National Association of Realtors Home Affordability Index, showing that it moved from 179.1 February last year to 194.9 this year, not far from the level seen in January.

Hamilton Place Strategies has released findings from its analytics initiative, the Hamilton Financial Index. The company releases its examination of the state of the U.S. financial services industry on a semi-annual basis, and Hamilton conducts the study on behalf of the Partnership for a Secure Financial Future.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance edged down by 2,000 for the week ended February 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Data for the previous week were revised upward, turning a flat report into an increase in initial claims. The revision means claims rose and did not decline during the week used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its month survey for the unemployment rate. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, fell 2,000 to 3,402,000 as the numbers for the previous week were also revised upward.

This week mortgage rates played by the same script seen for the last few months, furthering a season for all-time high affordability while fears for Europe drove investors across the Atlantic. Finance Web site Bankrate.com, mortgage giant Freddie Mac, and real estate Web site Zillow.com delivered a dearth for rates across the board. Bankrate.com likewise offered declines for loans across the board. For its part, Greece remains in the clutch of a debt crisis that drew $172 billion in bailout funds from eurozone finance ministers last week.

In Illinois, PrivateBancorp, Inc., has named a new president of personal client services. The financial institution recently appointed Brant Aherns to the leadership role, which marks the launch of a new line of business for PVTB.

The Debt Exchange recently released its commercial loan report for January, and the findings indicate that loan values are continuing to rise steadily, following the trend of the past 12 months. According to data from DebtX, values for commercial real estate loans stood at 79.

The refinance share of mortgage applications broke with several weeks of activity by falling below 80 percent last week, even while more borrowers took advantage of the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program. The Mortgage Bankers Association said in a weekly survey that mortgage application volume contracted by 0.3 percent from the week before, while the index covering it dropped 9.4 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index climbed down by 2.2 percent from the week before.

Real GDP ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Labor Department said Wednesday. In its initial report on fourth quarter GDP, the agency had said the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace. Economists had forecast no change in the advance GDP estimate issued last month. Housing grew at an 11.5 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, its fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2010 when it grew at a 22.8 percent rate.

Accurate Document Service, Inc., has launched a new national platform. A long time corporate partner of ADS, eLynx announced that the document prep company will begin creation and delivery of closing documentation on a nationwide basis.

Community financial institution, Severn Savings Bank has named a new chief financial officer. The Maryland-based bank recently promoted Stephen W. Lilly to the leadership role.