Servicing

The numbers and headlines last week offered mixed signals: Existing-home sales dropped month-to-month as the median price increased, while another report showed new home sales fell as the median price increased.

According to responses collected by Redfin, 45 percent of sellers believe now is a good time to sell, up from just 22 percent in the first quarter and 15 percent in last year's fourth quarter. At the same time, 44 percent say now is a good time buy, down from 54 percent last quarter. Having survived the slower cold season, homeowners were also a little more optimistic about future home price increases. Seventy percent of those surveyed expect prices will rise "a little" in their area in the next year, while 15 percent anticipate prices will rise "a lot."

Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank, announced plans to expand its West Coast geographic footprint by opening new branch offices and recruiting high quality production professionals to help leverage its model in the California market.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced two individuals were added to the bureau's leadership team, and two current staff members will be serving in different roles.

CoreLogic, a leading residential property information, analytics, and services provider headquartered in California, announced its acquisition of Case-Shiller from Fiserv, Inc. The acquisition closed March 20. In addition to offering the Case-Shiller Indexes├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬Øwhich will be renamed the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┬ØCoreLogic will continue to offer its own Home Price Index (HPI), the company announced.

loanDepot.com, based in Foothill Ranch, California, added Teri Felix to its executive leadership team. Felix joins the company as EVP and chief marketing officer.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped for only the second time in the last six weeks, falling 16,000 to 339,000 for the week ending April 20, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 350,000 initial claims. Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 13 were revised up to 355,000 from the originally reported 355,000.

Zillow's Home Value Index (HVI) rose to $157,600 as of the end of Q1, up 0.5 percent over Q4 2012 and 5.1 percent over the same time last year. Quarterly home value appreciation in the fourth quarter was 2.1 percent--indicating the market is slowing down to a more sustainable pace, says Zillow chief economist Dr. Stan Humphries. Looking ahead, the company's Home Value Forecast shows national home values rising 3.2 percent through March 2014, an annual appreciation rate in line with historic norms.

360 Mortgage Group, a privately owned mortgage banker operating out of Austin, Texas, announced Ron Summers has joined the team as its newest account executive. Summers, who has more than 12 years of mortgage lending and real estate experience, will report to Al Crisanty, VP of national wholesale production, as he works to expand relationships with high-quality mortgage brokers throughout Northern California.

The appraiser community is starting to show confidence in today's housing climate, United States Appraisals revealed in a release.