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A July monthly property intelligence report (PIR) conducted by Dataquick, a provider of real estate information solutions, reveals a monthly and annual rise in home prices for every single participating U.S. county out of the 42 evaluated. In fact, home prices have hiked an average of over 13 percent versus this time last year. Per DataQuick's data, this rise in price has been directly linked to fewer foreclosures, limited property availability, and an overall decline in transactions.

In Florida, mortgage technology provider MortgageFlex Systems, Inc., announced the addition of Laura White to its professional services team.

The second quarter saw modest gains in home sales in Connecticut, according to the Warren Group. Second-quarter sales of single-family homes totaled 6,898, a nearly 1 percent increase over Q2 2012. In June alone, home sales were up 0.4 percent (the second straight month of increases) to a total of 2,602.

Led by multifamily activity, new housing permits and starts rose in July with new construction, continuing a shift from single-family homes.

Despite lackluster performance from the economic sector, the housing recovery will press on and stimulate overall growth, according to Freddie Mac's most recent economic and housing outlook.

Total Mortgage Services, LLC now has its Arizona Mortgage Banker License and is licensed to originate residential loans in the state, the company announced.

In Santa Ana, First American Title Insurance Company announced it has hired Kevin Wall as president of its First American Mortgage Services (FAMS) division.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending August 10 fell to the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The department said there were 320,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to 330,000 from the 333,000 originally reported for the week ending August 3. The number of filings for that week was revised to 335,000.

In Texas, Pacific Union Financial, LLC hired Tim Wagner as SVP of marketing. Wagner joins the company from Nationstar Mortgage, where he was VP of marketing. There, he directed the integrated and ecommerce marketing teams, supporting all corporate, servicing, and originations decisions.

While rising home prices across the nation may be good news as they imply recovering markets, the trend may dampen housing affordability.