Government

Essent Guaranty Inc., a nationwide mortgage insurance (MI) provider headquartered in Pennsylvania, announced Wednesday the availability of its MI eligibility and rate quotes through LoanSifter's MI Best Execution Pricing Platform.

A strengthening private sector should give the economy a boost in the second half of 2013 after a slow start, according to Bloomberg BNA's annual Economic Outlook. The forecast--a consensus projection from economists at 21 leading financial, consulting, and academic organizations across the country--calls for a temporary slowdown in economic growth in the first half of the year as the country feels the impacts of the payroll tax hike and other major shifts in federal fiscal policy.

Consistent with most industry indices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported continued gains in its most recent House Price Index. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased 0.6 percent from October to November. This rate matches the previous month's revised index, which was revised from a 0.5 percent increase to a 0.6 percent increase. National home prices have increased 5.6 percent over the 12-month period ending in November, according to FHFA. The current index is 15.2 percent lower than the national peak.

In Maryland, technology development firm IndiSoft has been recognized by SmartCEO magazine for its quick growth and contributions to the Baltimore community in the last three years. IndiSoft was listed among 49 other companies in the January "Future 50" issue of Baltimore SmartCEO.

DocMagic, Inc., a provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation and delivery solutions, announced that its new multi-million dollar technology center is operational.

In sunny California, ICON Residential Lenders made two hiring announcements. Dennis Kuncas and Matt Modugno joined the company as SVP and area sales manager, respectively.

San Diego-based DataQuick, a technology provider for the lending industry, announced it has adapted its products to meet new industry standards. The company's MindBox decisioning program has assisted lenders in obtaining qualification information for more than 20 years. With the release of the new industry standards from the CFPB, DataQuick is adjusting the product to ensure compliance.

The Mortgage Partnership Finance (MPF) Program, originated in 1997 to assist small financial institutions in selling fixed-rate conforming loans to the secondary market, has experienced rapid growth over the last year. Both the number of financial institutions participating in the program and the number of loans funded through the program grew in 2012, according to a release.

In a joint announcement, KB Home and Nationstar Mortgage LLC announced an agreement to form Home Community Mortgage, LLC, a limited liability company offering a range of mortgage banking services to KB Home customers. As KB Home's preferred lender, Nationstar has served homebuyers on-site in the builder's communities across the country. According to the announcement, Nationstar will remain KB Home's preferred choice until Home Community Mortgage's launch, which is scheduled for the latter half of 2013.

U.S. home values in 2012 rose 5.9 percent over 2011, according to data in Zillow's latest Home Value Index (HVI).