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Home prices fell year-over-year by 2.1 percent in 2011 but at the slightest clip unseen since 2006, with forecasts for a welcome appreciation on the way in 2012, according to Clear Capital. The real estate research organization offered up the numbers in a Home Data Index Market Report it releases monthly. What do the numbers say? Home prices sagged in early 2011 but lifted as the market underwent some stabilization and more bank-owned properties left the housing supply. The report suggested that home prices could inch forward by 0.2 percent, with many markets ready to stabilize.

In international news, HSBC has announced the formation of a company panel devoted to extending legal aid to its mortgage borrowers. The panel, which will be made up of solicitors and licensed conveyancers, will target the provision of required legal services for those purchasing a home mortgage via HSBC.

Stonegate Mortgage Corporation has appointed a new executive to its ranks. The company recently announced that John F. Macke would join Stonegate as its executive vice president of capital markets.

President Barack Obama stopped by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier Friday to welcome the staff and new director Richard Cordray. The chief executive sent shockwaves around the mortgage servicing and lending industries Wednesday by making the controversial decision to recess appoint Cordray as CFPB director. The move bypassed lawmakers in the Senate, namely 44 Republicans that vowed earlier this year to block any nominee for the bureau, no matter the party affiliation.

The U.S. economy soldiered ahead by adding 200,000 jobs over December, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent as more employers picked up seasonal staff members for the holidays. The Labor Department reported Friday that total private-sector employment reached 212,000 last month, alongside fewer jobs for local and state governments, marginal declines in real estate services, and a notable pickup in residential construction around the country. Real estate, rental and leasing services lost jobs by 1.3 percent on average in December.

More Americans still feel uneasy about their household finances, leaving only 5 percent interested in refinancing their mortgage, according to a recent Harris Poll. Polling 2,237 adults across the country in mid-December, the research firm found respondents overwhelmingly despondent about the fiscal state of the nation. When it came to housing issues, the poll found Americans about as interested in home improvements and equity lines of credit as they were in refinancing their mortgages.

John Burns Real Estate Consulting is adding a new member to its management personnel. The company recently announced that Carl Reichardt, Jr., would join the John Burns Real Estate family as its managing director of research.

Uncertainty in the markets helped ring in the New Year with record lows for mortgage rates, as concerns over debt crises and job growth lingered for wary investors. Finance Web site Bankrate.com and mortgage company Freddie Mac released their findings for mortgage rates Thursday in two separate weekly surveys. Bankrate.com reported interest rates for the 30-year loan hitting a record 4.18 percent this week, down from 4.21 percent last week. Freddie likewise found rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sliding from 3.95 percent last week to 3.91 percent this week.

Ushering in the new year with a name change, NewDay Financial has announced that it will now officially be known as NewDay USA LLC. The updated moniker was added in order to better identify with the company's client base, according to a statement from NewDay USA.

Mortgage application volume fell 3.7 percent in mid-December, reflecting a rebound from sharper declines seen during the same time last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported the findings in releasing its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which it adjusted to account for the holidays. The MBA├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan applications, saw total volume tick up by 39 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a higher number for the last few weeks of December 2011 on a year-over-year basis. Mortgage applications fell modestly in comparison last year.