Total Mortgage Services, LLC now has its Arizona Mortgage Banker License and is licensed to originate residential loans in the state, the company announced.
Read More »New President to Lead First American Mortgage Services
In Santa Ana, First American Title Insurance Company announced it has hired Kevin Wall as president of its First American Mortgage Services (FAMS) division.
Read More »August Builder Confidence Up, Reaches Record High in Midwest
The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI)--a measure of builder confidence--increased again in August, climbing three points to 59, its highest reading since November 2005, the group reported Thursday. The index has improved 15 points (34 percent) in the last three months. Economists had expected the August index to slip to 56 from July's originally reported 57. The strong August numbers--following the strong June and July reading--gave further evidence to a recovery in the housing sector.
Read More »First-Time Jobless Claims At Pre-Recession Levels
First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending August 10 fell to the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The department said there were 320,000 new claims for unemployment insurance, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to 330,000 from the 333,000 originally reported for the week ending August 3. The number of filings for that week was revised to 335,000.
Read More »Former Nationstar VP Joins Pacific Union Financial
In Texas, Pacific Union Financial, LLC hired Tim Wagner as SVP of marketing. Wagner joins the company from Nationstar Mortgage, where he was VP of marketing. There, he directed the integrated and ecommerce marketing teams, supporting all corporate, servicing, and originations decisions.
Read More »Housing Affordability Dips to Four-Year Low in Second Quarter
While rising home prices across the nation may be good news as they imply recovering markets, the trend may dampen housing affordability.
Read More »New MGIC Guidelines Simplify Mortgage Insurance Application Process
In an effort to streamline the mortgage insurance application process, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) introduced several changes to its underwriting guidelines.
Read More »Home Inventory Declines Ease in July
Home inventories continue to decline in many markets across the country, but the pace of those declines appears to be slowing, which may in turn slow price appreciation in some markets, according to Realtor.com. National housing inventory declined 5.24 percent year-over-year in July, which is a slowdown from the 16.47 percent year-over-year decline reported in January. At the same time, the number of markets with declining inventory year-over-year decreased to 118 in July.
Read More »FirstREX Recruits Two New Hires to Grow Funding Program
FirstREX, a real estate equity finance firm operating out of San Francisco, has brought on Don Shewmaker and Jim McGuire to help the company meet growing demand for its down payment funding program, REX HomeBuyer.
Read More »Mortgage Master Opens New Virginia Location
Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank and one of the country's largest privately owned mortgage companies, announced the opening of a new retail branch location in Northern Virginia.
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