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Underwater homeowners are contributing to a lower inventory of houses for sale on the market, but according to Capital Economics negative equity will not have a major impact on housing prices. Regardless of the impact of negative equity, both Capital Economics and the National Association of Realtors foresee rising prices in the near future. The percentage of underwater homeowners is falling but remains elevated. CoreLogic said that 11.4 million homeowners were underwater in the first quarter.

Builder confidence jumped six points in July to its highest level since March 2007, the National Association of Home Builders reported Tuesday. Economists had expected a modest one point increase in July. The six-point gain to 35 was the largest month-month gain since September 2002 when the confidence gauge rose eight points. The increase in the index was driven by a sharp gain in the outlook for sales six months out which rose 11 points in July to 44, the highest level since April 2007. The index is up 23 points since July 2011.

Releasing its semi-annual index, Hamilton Place Strategies and the Partnership for a Secure Financial Future found that the safety and soundness of the nation's financial services industry is improving. The most recent Hamilton Financial Index showed a value of 1.22, which is 22 percent higher than the "historical norm." Based on data through the first quarter of 2012, the HFI is up seven points from February's findings. According to Hamilton's statistics, current totals represent a significant increase over the index's low point of 0.46.

In Florida, Digital Risk is welcoming a new company leader, announcing the hiring former Fannie Mae VP Gary Manfredi. Touting his unique experience in the mortgage industry, Digital Risk has tapped Manfredi as the company's executive vice president of client solutions.

Showing fortitude as a previous winner of Britain's X Factor, Leona Lewis is displaying bravery once again, recently deciding to re-list her Los Angeles home. Jumping back into the city's choppy real estate market, Lewis has put her Nichols Canyon property back on the market for its original asking price of $2.5 million.

Lender Processing Services, Inc.'s Applied Analytics division released its updated home price index, showing that although prices fell year-over-year, the HPI increase from this year's low has been the most significant jump up in years. The company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós recent HPI is an update from an earlier release to reflect residential sales concluded during April 2012. The index showed that home price values fell 0.1 percent from April 2011 to April 2012 ($201,000 to $200,000). However, price index values rose from January's low ($195,000) at a pace not seen in more than half a decade.

Citigroup reported a net income of $2.9 billion, $0.95 per share, during the second quarter of this year, down 12 percent from the second quarter of last year, according to its earnings report released Monday. The bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós revenues totaled $18.6 billion in the second quarter, a 10 percent decline from last year. According to Citigroup, the decline in earnings is largely the result of the ongoing process of winding down Citi Holdings, a division opened in 2009 to house assets and businesses the bank hopes to unload.

Top executives and favored borrowers faced indictment by a federal grand jury on Wednesday for their role in a massive fraud that led to the biggest Virginia bank collapse since 2008. According to a release on Thursday from SIGTARP, the accused are charged with masking non-performing assets at the Bank of the Commonwealth in Norfolk, Virginia. The long-running scheme benefitted the alleged perpetrators to the detriment of the bank, leading to its eventual failure in 2011. The FDIC estimates the cost to its deposit insurance fund to be $268 million.

More underwater borrowers are choosing to refinance their mortgages under the Home Affordable Refinance Program than at any time since the government program launched in 2009, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The regulatory agency released a report Monday that found total refinance volume up by 20 percent in May. The reasons why? According to the FHFA, record-low interest rates for 30-year fixed-mortgages couple with recent modifications to HARP to create the conditions for a refi boom.

In Utah and Wisconsin, Mortgagebot and Avista have added two new clients for the companies' technology platforms. Mortgagebot and Avista, both of which share parent company D+H, will welcome University First Federal Credit Union and Bank of Lake Mills, to their roster of customers.