Technology

A new real estate investment trust (REIT) team has been appointed at MLV & Co. The recently launched company division will be led by Ryan Meliker, who will serve as MLV's senior REIT analyst.

Fannie Mae rolls out an initiative to make loan-level data for single-family mortgage-backed securities (MBS) accessible and transparent; the GSE will begin releasing data during Q1.

Consumer credit directly impacts the lending environment, and a recent report from CreditForecast.com reveals that American borrowers are on the rebound.

In Michigan, Main Street Bank is expanding its mortgage banking operations. The financial institutions recently announced the opening of a new mortgage office in downtown Rochester.

Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative has started 2012 on an optimistic note. The company recently announced that it achieved a new high for origination volume last year, giving Lenders One a record breaking end to 2011.

Provident Bank has appointed a new consumer markets leader for its northern and central regions, with the announcement that Colleen Sousa will join the financial institution.

All-time highs for housing affordability persisted this week as interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages hovered near their record-breaking lows, a sign that Europe continues to ward off investors. Real estate Web site Zillow found only a minor shift for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which lingered between 3.70 percent and 3.75 percent before nestling at 3.69 percent Tuesday. The 15-year loan stayed near 2.95 percent, along with rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages that averaged 2.65 percent, according to the Web site.

Platinum Data Solutions has named a new CEO, announcing that industry veteran Phil Huff will join the company following the retirement of the company's founder, Rocky Donathan, who was the previous CEO.

The mortgage fraud caseload rose last year as federal insurers reported more suspicious activity, according to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Hamilton Place Strategies has released findings from its analytics initiative, the Hamilton Financial Index. The company releases its examination of the state of the U.S. financial services industry on a semi-annual basis, and Hamilton conducts the study on behalf of the Partnership for a Secure Financial Future.