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Pending Home Sales Rebound in California

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) reported a 2.6 percent increase in its Pending Home Sales Index, putting it a reading of 102.4 from 99.8 in August. The increase compares to a 0.3 percent uptick in the National Association of Realtors' national index, which measured 105 in the group's latest reading.

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Purchase Loans Account for Nearly 75% of Q3 Mortgages

According to a snapshot of mortgage trends released this week by Guaranteed Rate, purchase loans accounted for 73 percent of all mortgage volumes last quarter, up from 63 percent a year prior. The increase came as refinancing numbers dropped off by more than a third annually—"indicative of the fact that the third quarter of 2013 was when the mortgage market began to account for higher interest rates," Guaranteed Rate said.

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Report: BofA Settlement Stalled Over SEC Infighting

Bank of America's record $16.65 billion settlement with several government agencies over the sale of toxic residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) has been stalled by an internal disagreement within the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to sources familiar with the case in a report from Bloomberg.

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Survey: Loan Production Costs Expected to Rise

With less than one year left before the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) disclosure rule goes live, a new survey finds more lenders are battling with increased loan costs as quality control becomes the top concern.

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Mortgage Rates Rise After Scraping 16-Month Low

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.98 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending October 30. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, attributed the climb in interest rates to fair news in the housing market, pointing to new home sales and ongoing increases in the S&P Case-Shiller price indices.

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Allstate Appraisal, Bradford Launch Valuation Express

Nationwide valuation and review services company Allstate Appraisal, based in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and computer-aided appraising technology pioneer Bradford Technologies, based in San Jose, California, announced the launch of Valuation Express, a desktop appraisal product that incorporates third-party property inspections.

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Newly Launched Survey Predicts Uptick in Home Sales

A new estimator of existing-home sales landed on Thursday, and it's calling for a slight pickup in transactions for October. Based on data collected for this month, Auction.com predicts existing-home sales will fall between seasonally adjusted annual averages of 4.97 and 5.38 million units, with a targeted prediction of 5.19 million.

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GDP Growth Slows in Q3, Still Tops Forecasts

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States increased at an annualized rate of 3.5 percent last quarter, according to an advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Economists surveyed by Econoday anticipated a growth rate of 3.0 percent. The GDP report comes a day after the Federal Reserve announced plans to close down its stimulative bond-buying program, signaling increased confidence in the economy's progression.

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Fed: QE3 Asset Purchase Program to End In October

With the substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market, as judged by the Committee, since the inception of the QE3 asset purchase program two years ago and the broader economy's underlying strength to support ongoing progress toward maximum employment in a price stability context, the Committee decided to conclude the QE3 program this month.

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