Origination

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose ever so slightly in September, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, tempering the much-heralded housing sector revival. The Index inched up to 99.5, an improvement of 0.3 percentage points over August's 99.2. Economists had expected the index to jump 2.5 percent to 101.7.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 23,000 to 369,000 for the week ended October 20, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to fall to 372,000. The initial claims report has been unusually volatile for the last month with wide swings in the seasonal adjustment factors used by the Labor Department to "normalize" the data. However, the factor used for this week's report was virtually the same as the factor used a week ago, suggesting the sharp drop in claims reflects a truer reading of the labor market.

Mortgage loan app developer LenderMobile announced the iPad launch of BorrowerMobile, a borrower-facing app designed to let borrowers check loan information directly from their devices. The app is intended to complement LenderMobile's loan-officer facing LenderMobile+ app that lets borrowers fill in 1003 mortgage applications from their iPad and electronically sign the application directly on the screen.

Churchill Mortgage has delivered more than 60,000 free educational homeownership and financing guides to thousands of consumers all over the United States, the company announced.

By clarifying the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) and QM (qualified mortgage) rules, regulators could attract private investors back into the mortgage market, Michael Held, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, told the audience at the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Annual Conference and Expo in Chicago Monday.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) is speaking out in defense of JPMorgan Chase, calling the U.S. government's lawsuit against the financial institution a case of "no good deed goes unpunished." New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a suit against JPMorgan for the alleged misconduct of Bear Stearns & Co. prior to JPMorgan's acquisition of the failing investment bank, but Frank says the bank is being punished for getting involved at the government's request.

Mortgage origination is doing even better in 2012 than the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) had anticipated.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) continued its upward crawl in August, rising 0.7 percent from July and 4.7 percent from August 2011, according to a release from the agency. The August index is down 15.9 percent from its peak in April 2007 and is at roughly the same level as June 2004's index. Regionally, all divisions reported year-over-year price increases in August, with prices in the Mountain division showing the most growth at 11.4 percent.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers, NAMB, recently announced a partnership with The Bond Exchange to offer mortgage license bonds to all members and their companies. The Bond Exchange has a reputation for negotiating bond prices that are at least as low and sometimes lower than other bond issuers.

In Michigan, Edward Surovell Realtors has teamed up with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Already the top-selling company in the state's Southeastern region, Surovell Realtors has now become a part of the fourth largest real estate organization in the United States.