Origination

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released another new monthly survey measuring mortgage loan application activity on new single-family properties for lenders affiliated with homebuilders.

Rick Sharga has departed Carrington Mortgage Holdings to serve as EVP for Auction.com, the online real estate marketplace announced in a release. From his office in Auction.com's Irvine, California headquarters, Sharga will serve as the company's chief spokesman on topics related to the U.S. housing market, mortgage market, commercial real estate, and international real estate.

While summer temperatures are now consistently rising into the triple digits in many parts of the country, bidding wars for homes continue to cool, Redfin said in its Real-Time Bidding Wars report for June. Nationally, the percentage of offers written by Redfin agents that faced multiple bids fell for the third straight month to 68.6 percent, down from 69.5 percent in May and 75.7 percent in March. Redfin analyst Ellen Haberle attributed the continued decline to rising mortgage interest rates and an easing in the inventory crunch.

Robert C. Moss has joined CohnReznick LLP, the 11th largest audit, tax, and advisory firm in the United States, as principal and national director of governmental affairs.

Mortgage rates continued to trend higher last week following last week's release of the June employment report.

First time claims for unemployment insurance jumped a surprising 16,000 to 360,000, for week ended July 6, the highest level since mid-May, the Labor Department Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to 337,000 from the 343,000 originally reported for the week ended June 29.

In a joint release, six federal financial regulators proposed exemptions from Dodd-Frank appraisal requirements for loans of $25,000 or less, certain streamlined refinancings, and certain loans secured by manufactured housing. Those exemptions would join others already laid out earlier this year. According to the release, the proposed exemptions "are intended to save borrowers time and money and to promote the safety and soundness and creditors."

FrontDoor Communities announced it has closed on 158 acres in Atlanta in what is the city's largest residential land acquisition in the last seven years.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) took a look at Generation Y's browsing and purchasing habits to determine how their presence will affect the industry.

In Florida, Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), announced that Vicki Vidal has joined the company as SVP of product management for its Servicing Solutions and Technology division.