News

After declining for most of the year thus far, the share of refinance loans experienced a 3 percentage point boost in September, according to the latest Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae. At the same time, a lower percentage of loans made their way to closing in September compared with the month before, and the time it took to close those loans that did make their way through the approval process increased, according to Ellie Mae.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, a measure of economic developments as an indicator of future trends, increased 0.8 percent last month to 104.4 following a downwardly revised August reading that showed no change. Nine of the index's ten components contributed to the latest increase.

The Commerce Department and HUD estimate that new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 467,000 in September, according to a joint report from the agencies. September's sales rate marks a 0.2 percent increase over August's revised rate and a 17 percent jump above September 2013. New home sales in August, originally reported at an annual pace of 504,000, came down dramatically in the government's revised estimate.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a diversified mortgage services firm headquartered in Dallas, has a new president following a multi-million dollar capital infusion from its stockholder investor group.

The residential mortgage loan risk retention rule, known as the "qualified residential mortgage" (QRM) rule, was approved on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agencies are the last of the six groups charged with putting together the finalized rule.

New York's top banking supervisor once again set his sights on Ocwen Financial Corp. this week, saying the non-bank servicer sent thousands of foreclosure warnings to borrowers months after it was too late to save their homes.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Thursday that U.S. house prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent month-over-month in August. On a year-over-year basis, FHFA's price index was up 4.8 percent, putting it roughly in line with its August 2005 level and 5.8 percent below its peak in April 2007.

RealtyTrac reported that 8.1 million U.S. homeowners, representing 15 percent of all mortgages in the country, were seriously underwater on their mortgage in Q3, the lowest percentage of underwater mortgages nationwide since RealtyTrac began tracking the data in Q1 2012.

Real estate data firm Zillow reported a 6.5 percent year-over-year gain in its Home Value Index for September, bringing the index up to $176,500. Zillow's chief economist, Dr. Stan Humphries, said the latest report comes as a relief compared to last year, when the market was experiencing unsustainable price growth that went well into the double digits in some areas.

In Dallas, insurance claims management firm Dimont & Associates announced it is once again operating as an independent company, ending its affiliation with Wingspan Portfolio Holdings.