News

Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank, announced plans to expand its West Coast geographic footprint by opening new branch offices and recruiting high quality production professionals to help leverage its model in the California market.

The nation's economy rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter, slightly slower than economists had expected but more than six times the growth rate in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced two individuals were added to the bureau's leadership team, and two current staff members will be serving in different roles.

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio grew in March for the first time this year, according to the GSE's monthly volume summary.

CoreLogic, a leading residential property information, analytics, and services provider headquartered in California, announced its acquisition of Case-Shiller from Fiserv, Inc. The acquisition closed March 20. In addition to offering the Case-Shiller Indexes├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øwhich will be renamed the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬ØCoreLogic will continue to offer its own Home Price Index (HPI), the company announced.

Mortgage fraud risk saw a slight increase last year, with the largest concentration located in the eastern half of the country, Interthinx revealed in its annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report. According to the yearly report--based on analysis of loan applications processed throughout 2012 by Interthinx's FraudGUARD system--the 2012 Annual Mortgage Fraud Index was 150, a 3.4 percent rise from 2011's index reading of 145. The firm also observed a notable shift in fraud risk from west to east.

Housing starts are making a comeback with double-digit increases expected this year, but some states still face a long road to recovery, according to the NAHB.

loanDepot.com, based in Foothill Ranch, California, added Teri Felix to its executive leadership team. Felix joins the company as EVP and chief marketing officer.

Mortgage rates dipped last week--some of them hitting record lows--as unstable economic news left investors with visions of another potential economic slowdown.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped for only the second time in the last six weeks, falling 16,000 to 339,000 for the week ending April 20, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 350,000 initial claims. Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 13 were revised up to 355,000 from the originally reported 355,000.