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NAHB Improving Market Index Reaches All-time High

The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index reached its highest level on record in September with a little more than 80 percent of markets qualifying as improving. Of the 291 markets that made it onto the latest Improving Markets Index, 242 were repeats from the previous month, and 49 were new to the list. However, the association noted that September's result was largely due to a change to the way Freddie Mac measures home prices.

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LRES Opens Phoenix Office

LRES, a national provider of commercial and residential valuations and appraisal management, announced the opening of a new operations facility in Phoenix to accommodate the company's growth and to serve as a key component of its disaster recovery plan.

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Commentary: Truth… and Consequences

Friday's report on the August employment situation at the same time confounded analysts twice with a less than robust 169,000 month-month increase in payrolls and a staggering 58,000 reduction in the initial report on payrolls for July. While it may not be easy to reconcile the numbers in the employment situation report with themselves, it is even more difficult to reconcile them with other economic indicators.

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Genworth Makes Additions to Senior Leadership

New

Genworth Financial, Inc., announced Wednesday that the company is strengthening the senior leadership team of its U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI) unit with the addition of two key executives. Paul Gomez was recently promoted to COO of USMI, and George Reichert was named chief information officer (CIO).

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CFPB Lays Out Obligations for Consumer Credit Disputes

CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is putting on notice companies that furnish information to credit reporting firms, reminding them that they are responsible for investigating consumer disputes forwarded to them. "Credit reports play a critical role in the lives of consumers," said CFPB director Richard Cordray. "Given the importance of these reports, consumers need to know that their documents are being reviewed when they dispute what they believe is a mistake on a report."

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Unemployment Rate Dips as August Payrolls Increase 169K

Unemployment

The nation's economy added 169,000 jobs in August as the unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 180,000 and that the unemployment rate would remain at July's 7.4 percent.

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Report: Market Health Looks Different for Investors, Builders

While price gains may paint a picture of a recovery well on its way, construction figures aren't as encouraging, according to an analysis from Trulia. While prices are up 11 percent year-over-year in August, according to Trulia, which monitors list prices, construction activity is lagging. Additionally, when it comes to price gains and increases in construction, markets tend to be experiencing one or the other, with markets reporting price growth seeing meager construction.

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