Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

Unexpectedly positive employment and spending data drove mortgage rates to their highest level since August last week, according to Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 10,000 to 332,000 for the week ending March 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 350,000 initial unemployment claims. The drop in filings the third in the last four weeks resumed a downward trend in layoffs.

House prices increased 9.7 percent year-over-year in January, continuing a recent trend, and prices show "no signs of an imminent slowdown," according to Capital Economics.

Leads360, a leader in cloud-based intelligent sales automation solutions based in Los Angeles, announced the addition of industry vet Kelly Booth as director of the company's mortgage unit.

Effective immediately, Bank of Commerce Mortgage will be called simply Commerce Mortgage. According to a press release, the name change is consistent with the terms of the re-acquisition of 51 percent of the equity back from Bank of Commerce Holdings, which sold back the ownership position to the partners of Simonich Corporation, Scott Simonich and Mario De Tomasi.

Caldwell Partners released a new white paper addressing a crucial issue in the mortgage industry: the lack of knowledgeable leaders able to manage their business' new needs.

Los Angeles-based CBRE Group, Inc., once again earned top honors as the highest-ranked commercial real estate services and investment company in Fortune Magazine, the company announced. In addition, the firm was named the No. 1 commercial real estate brand in Lipsey Company's annual brand survey for the 12th consecutive occasion. The survey measures commercial real estate professionals' perceptions of the industry's leading brands.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's December 2012 Refinance Report shows refinance volume under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was 76,461 in the year's final month.

Rising interest rates brought down mortgage activity last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Led by a surge in gasoline prices, retail sales rose 1.1 percent in February, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday. Economists had expected an increase of 0.5 percent. In January, retails sales rose 0.2 percent.