Origination

Donald McGuire will be pulling double duty at NewOak as COO and head of investment banking, the company announced. McGuire comes to NewOak with more than 27 years of experience in finance and operations, having worked in the major investment banking, pharmaceutical, and technological industries.

The number of markets listed on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) broke the triple-digit mark in October, NAHB reported. A total of 103 housing markets across the country qualified for the list in October, up from 99 in September and the highest level since the list started a year ago, NAHB said. At its October level, the number of qualifying markets approaches nearly 10 times the number from when the index was first created.

If current trends persist, this year may be the first year since 2006 the housing market records an annual price increase, according to a report released Thursday by Trulia. At the current rate of change, the year could close with a 4 percent price annual price increase. Asking prices rose 2.5 percent year-over-year in September. When foreclosure sales are excluded, prices were up 3.5 percent. Month-over-month, asking prices were up 0.5 percent in September.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September--the lowest level since January 2009--as the economy added a below-average 114,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. The 0.3 percentage point improvement in the unemployment rate is the largest since January 2011, when the unemployment rate dropped from 9.4 percent to 9.1 percent.

Singer Sheryl Crow has listed her 11-acre California estate for $15.95 million. According to RealEstalker.com, the Grammy-winner's property in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills boasts three houses, as well as resort-style grounds with expansive views of the city's skyline.

Multifamily mortgage origination saw a major year-over-year increase in dollar volume in 2011, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported.

For the second week in a row, mortgage rates hit new record lows, and for the first time since mid-October 2009, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is lower than the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) rate. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, attributes the falling rates to "mortgage securities purchases by the Federal Reserve and indicators of a weakening economy," such as slow personal income growth in August and last quarter's downwardly revised Gross Domestic Product.

Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has seemed particularly enthusiastic about discussing housing on the national stage, but Wednesday's debates saw a brief skirmish between the two candidates about regulation for the mortgage industry. The fleeting exchange on banking and mortgage regulation comes at an apt time, as New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit earlier in the week against JPMorgan Chase over mortgage securities fraud committed by a former Bear Stearns unit.

Performance on vintage prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) continues to degrade, Fitch Ratings revealed in a report.

Nichole Guthneck will help to lead Guaranteed Home Mortgage Company as its newly-appointed division leader, the company announced. In her role at Guaranteed, Guthneck is responsible for training, hiring, oversight, marketing, and policy for Guaranteed Direct, the firm's web-based residential mortgage platform.