Origination

The ongoing housing recovery will remain sustainable for the foreseeable future, analysts for Capital Economics say.

Fixed mortgage rates showed little signs of life in the last full week of November, hovering near record lows as markets show increased worry about the fiscal cliff.

Zillow, Inc., announced its sixth acquisition in the last two years. The company has entered into an agreement to buy San Francisco-based HotPads, a map-based rental and real estate search site. The $16 million deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Vericrest Financial, Inc., announced it will acquire about $2.7 billion in mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 5.2 percent to 104.8 in October, its highest level since March 2007, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, explained the jump by suggesting buyers are responding to favorable market conditions, noting "[w]e've had very good housing affordability conditions for quite some time, but we're seeing more impact now from steady job creation, and rising consumer confidence about home buying now that home prices have clearly turned positive."

Launching a new division focused on mortgage banking, Hammerhouse LLC is expanding into the lending industry. The new unit, Tactical Ops Recruiting Quality (TORQ), will target the placement of operational and other non-sales professionals around the U.S.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 23,000 to 393,000 for the week ending November 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 390,000 initial claims filings. First-time unemployment claims are gradually returning to pre-Sandy levels but remain elevated. In the four weeks prior to the storm that ravaged the East Coast, initial claims averaged about 369,000. Claims spiked to 451,000 in the week immediately following and have averaged 405,000 in the two weeks following.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's monthly Home Price Index showed prices continued to inch up in September, climbing 0.2 percent from the prior month. September marks the eighth consecutive month in which prices have increased. However, even with consistent price gains, "a number of factors continue to affect the recovery in home prices such as stagnant income growth, high unemployment levels, lingering uncertainty about the macroeconomy, and the large number of homes in the foreclosure pipeline."

Lorraine Brown's legal drama continues as Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette announced the filing of a felony charge against the former DocX president. Brown is being charged with one count of conducting criminal enterprises (racketeering) for her alleged role in authorizing the fraudulent signing of mortgage documents filed in the state.

Level1Loans and IntraPrise Solutions, Inc., announced a new joint venture to provide cloud-based mortgage valuation and other financial modeling software to owners and managers of mortgage and mortgage-related assets.