Origination

Private mortgage insurance activity saw a slight lift in December, according to Mortgage Insurance Companies of America's (MICA) monthly statistical report. Member companies wrote a combined $10.7 billion in primary new insurance on conventional loans in December, up from a reported $10.4 billion in November. Primary insurance in force was nearly $400.7 billion at the end of the year, with December marking the seventh consecutive month of increases.

If businesses had any reluctance to hire in December because of fiscal cliff concerns, they didn't make up for it in January: Payrolls expanded by 157,000, down from December, but the unemployment rate moved to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent a month earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.

A taxpayer watchdog agency accused Treasury of lacking a concrete plan to help Ally pay back taxpayers and move toward financial stability. Although Treasury made three investments into Ally, totaling $17.2 billion, the report says Treasury never required the company to "spell out a plan" to address issues surrounding Residential Capital, Ally's mortgage arm that caused most of the company's losses.

While home prices are expected to increase by 5 percent on the national level, analysts at Capital Economics say some regions are more likely to see little to no growth at all.

Churchill Mortgage, a provider of conventional and government-insured mortgages, announced the opening of a new branch in Atlanta, Georgia. For the new opening, Churchill recruited Johnny Meany and David Carr, who together have more than 26 years of industry experience.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the agency continues searching for a replacement for departing deputy director Raj Date. CFPB announced in November that Date would depart at the end of January 2013.

Fixed mortgage rates took a major leap up last week amid news of a growing economy led in part by the recovering housing market.

On an annual basis, 2012 was the strongest year for originations since 2007, according to Lender Processing Services' December Mortgage Monitor.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 38,000 to 368,000 for the week ending January 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected a smaller increase to 350,000 from the prior week's 330,000 initial claims. The weekly jump in initial claims was the first in three weeks. It reflected, in part, a drop in the seasonal adjustment factor the Labor Department applies to the raw data, which includes holiday workers whose jobs were eliminated.

Federal Housing Administration commissioner Carol Galante announced Wednesday a series of changes to be issued this week that will allow the agency to better manage risk and strengthen its anemic Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund. The announced changes include consolidating FHA's reverse mortgage program, raising of mortgage insurance premiums, and requiring borrowers to continue paying annual insurance premiums for the entire life of their mortgage loans.