Secondary Market

After spiking one week ago, first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 346,000 for the week ending April 6, a drop of 42,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to fall to 365,000. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 30 were revised up to 388,000 from the originally reported 385,000, increasing an unexpected 31,000 from one week earlier.

Specialized Business Software, a provider of custom software solutions for insurance, mortgage and financial services companies, announced the release of its web-based X12 EDI Translator.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) announced the availability of mortgage insurance through INTEGRA Software Systems' loan origination software (LOS) systems.

McLean Mortgage Corporation, a full-service mortgage lender headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, announced the release of a new program designed to help prospective homebuyers and Realtors in a market characterized by low inventory and increased competition from cash bidders.

Even as prices continued to rise in last year's fourth quarter, American homeowners found themselves paying less in monthly mortgage payments compared to pre-bubble norms.

Prudential Real Estate released Tuesday the results of its first-quarter Consumer Outlook Survey, revealing Americans' sentiment toward real estate is growing more and more favorable.

Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate announced the hiring of seasoned mortgage industry vet Tom Gamache as national director of retail production. Gamache brings more than two and a half decades of industry experience to Guaranteed Rate, recently serving in executive sales positions at MetLife Home Loans and Bank of America, where he led his sales team to exceed quarterly and annual production goals.

Fiserv, Inc., announced that its Common Origination Platform and LoanServ solutions have been integrated to provide real-time, full-circle loan boarding processes for all mortgage loans.

Class Appraisal, Inc. appointed a former mortgage banking executive to manage sales in the middle market. Tim Perkins was selected to lead the company as a consultant and business developer. Over the years, Perkins has held key positions with large mortgage banking companies such as Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase.

In Oklahoma, AmeriBid LLC announced the promotion of chief marketing officer John Pellow to VP. Pellow joined the company in 2009, serving before then as director of marketing for a real estate auction and brokerage services firm, where he was responsible for the marketing and sales support of several divisions.