Servicing

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended May 18 dropped 23,000 to, 340,000 from the highest level since the end of March the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Pacific Union Financial, LLC appointed industry veteran Scott Conradson as EVP of mortgage servicing. With over 28 years of servicing and default management experience, Conradson will manage the company's growing servicing portfolio.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a diversified component and special mortgage servicer based in the Dallas area, cut the ribbon on its new Florida-based operation Wednesday.

RE/MAX announced the launch of the RE/MAX Collection, a new luxury resource website offering high-end U.S. listings.

Existing-home sales rose a 0.6 percent in April to an annual sales rate of 4.97 million, the highest level since November 2009, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected a 1.6 percent increase to 5.0 million from March's original report of 4.92 million sales. The median price of an existing single-family home jumped $8,900 in the month to $192,800, the highest since August 2008.

Mortech, headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, rolled out additional features to its Connect Plus borrower contact and management tool.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reminded servicers of mortgage relief options available to homeowners whose residences were affected by the tornado that ravaged areas in Oklahoma.

The Real Estate Roundtable's outlook for commercial real estate (CRE) remained "modestly optimistic" in Q2 even as public policy uncertainties cloud the future, the group revealed in its Q2 2013 Sentiment Survey. The survey's "Overall Index" reading stands at 69 in the most recent release, unchanged from the previous quarter. That score is based on the average of two indices: the Current Conditions Index (which read 71 for Q2, an increase of one point over Q1) and the Future Conditions Index (67 for Q2, unchanged).

Zillow's Home Value Index climbed to $158,300 for April, an increase of 0.5 percent month-over-month and 5.2 percent year-over-year. April marked the sixth consecutive month in which home values appreciated more than 5 percent on a yearly basis. "In the short-term, this has been welcome news for homeowners. But in the long-term, this cannot be sustained, and consumers entering the market today should not expect this kind of appreciation to last," said Zillow chief economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

Indisoft and national nonprofit Hope LoanPort (HLP) announced technology enhancements designed to assist servicers with regulatory compliance.