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After dipping in July, mortgage closing rates recovered again to a new record high last month, according to data released last week. Examining a sampling of loans initiated ...

According to transaction data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million, a decrease of 1.8 percent from July's sales pace of 5.14 million and a drop of 5.3 percent compared to last year. The group's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, pinned August's slower pace to a decline in all-cash purchases made by investors.

Zillow's August Home Value Index, released Friday, shows that U.S. home values in August rose at a cool 0.1 percent from July. This cooling of price increases is good news for both buyers and sellers, as slow growth makes for a market in which final sales numbers are more in sync with actual property values.

Examining a sample of loans initiated in May, mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae calculated a closing rate of 61.1 percent for all loans in its August report, up from 57.7 percent in July's report. "The closing rate in August was the highest since we began tracking this data three years ago," said Jonathan Corr, president and COO of Ellie Mae. "This was further indication that lenders are working every deal and making sure leads don't slip away."

Experts gathered in Dallas earlier this week at the annual Five Star Conference and Expo to discuss the most pressing issues facing servicers—and "compliance" was the word of the day.

Join us at the 2014 Five Star Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas

Join us at the 2014 Five Star Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas

NAHB's Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes, rose four points in the group's latest reading to 59, nine points above the benchmark separating a market largely viewed as good from one viewed as poor. September's gain brings the index to its highest value since November 2005, NAHB reported.

In a survey of mortgage lenders over the third quarter, Fannie Mae found 85 percent of senior executives believe it would be difficult for most Americans to get a home loan in today's environment, up from 81 percent in the second quarter. To compare, only 50 percent of consumers polled in the company's August National Housing Survey said they think securing a mortgage would be difficult. Lenders were also more sour on their outlook for purchase mortgage demand over the next three months.

FNC, Inc.'s national Residential Price Index (RPI), a metric of prices in 100 of the nation's largest housing markets excluding REO and foreclosure sales, grew 0.6 percent month-over-month in July, slowing again from 0.8 percent in June (which in turn was down from 1.2 percent in May). The narrower 30-metro composite index saw a similar slowdown, also declining to 0.6 percent growth, while the 10-metro composite saw a half a percentage point drop to 0.4 percent.