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FirstClose, an aggregator in mortgage settlement services based in Austin, announced the hiring of Chip Caldwell to manage its Southeast territory.

In Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, GMH Mortgage Services announced a strategic marketing alliance with Realty Executives Boston West. The new partnership will combine GMH Mortgage's lending expertise and new marketing technology platforms with Realty Executives' strong regional brand awareness.

A new report from the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) calls for an end to the "too-big-to-fail" banking culture the group says has been destructive to the American economy. Citing remarks from Eric Holder in which the attorney general admitted some institutions have too much influence in the global economy for them to be prosecuted, ICBA asserts that large banks use their estimated $83 billion annual subsidy to "unfairly compete, profit and grow even larger, exacerbating industry consolidation."

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index continued to improve in May as Americans recovered from the economic shocks that plagued the year's first few months. "Consumer Confidence posted another gain this month and is now at a five-year high," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects."

As June--National Homeownership Month--approaches, NeighborWorks America is putting a spotlight on the thousands of new (and well-prepared) homeowners created in 2012.

Home prices posted their strongest yearly gain in almost seven years in March, with both the 10- and 20-city indices seeing double-digit gains, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The national index, reported quarterly, was up 10.2 percent. The three cities that showed no growth (and one of the cities in which prices fell for the month) were in the Midwest, indicating continuing struggles in the region. Nonetheless, March was an improvement over February.

As sellers hold their grip on the market, buyers are starting to understand what it's going to take to stay in the game, according to responses in Redfin's second-quarter Real-Time Home-Buyer Report. It was determined that although buyer frustration concerning the low amount of inventory continues to rise, there is an equal elevation in their individuals awareness and recognition of the seller's market, as well as an overall willingness to actually pay more out of pocket for purchasing real estate.

The last time both prices and sales of new homes increased in the same month was last September. What of course is missing from the two data sets is any indication of demand.

Carrington Real Estate Services, LLC announced the launch of MyFUELCenter, its mobile online resource for agents on the go.

GMH Mortgage Services LLC, a nationally-recognized mortgage banker headquartered in Pennsylvania, added Scott Medrow to its team as SVP of its National Mortgage Center and specialty products division.