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Provident Bank has appointed a new consumer markets leader for its northern and central regions, with the announcement that Colleen Sousa will join the financial institution.

A steady pace for home prices and sales signals housing recovery, but a disorderly default by any of the euro zone states overseas could choke affordability according to Capital Economics analysts.

Nationstar Mortgage LLC seized a deal recently with Aurora Bank, formerly Lehman Brothers Bancorp, for a handover of $63 billion in residential mortgage servicing rights.

All-time highs for housing affordability persisted this week as interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages hovered near their record-breaking lows, a sign that Europe continues to ward off investors. Real estate Web site Zillow found only a minor shift for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which lingered between 3.70 percent and 3.75 percent before nestling at 3.69 percent Tuesday. The 15-year loan stayed near 2.95 percent, along with rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages that averaged 2.65 percent, according to the Web site.

The Obama administration revealed recently it will relieve veterans wrongly foreclosed upon by servicers, as well as slashing refinancing rates for FHA loans.

Platinum Data Solutions has named a new CEO, announcing that industry veteran Phil Huff will join the company following the retirement of the company's founder, Rocky Donathan, who was the previous CEO.

The mortgage fraud caseload rose last year as federal insurers reported more suspicious activity, according to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Lower unemployment figures and higher GDP growth continue to help stabilize home prices amid a still-steady recovery, Fitch Ratings said Monday. The ratings agency found in a report that home prices may plunge 9.1 percent nationally but that the figures remain below estimates of 13.1 percent from the fourth quarter. Fitch said that declines may contract by around 6 percent in lieu of inflation and benefit from improvements in macro-economic indicators, such as unemployment and GDP growth. The report said that still-anemic mortgage volume remains a problem.

A prominent housing trade group joined a growing roster of policy makers by outlining ways to take the GSEs off federal conservatorship, reintroduce private mortgage-backed securities, and charge existing government entities with stewardship of the new system. The National Association of Home Builders released a white paper Monday that calls on lawmakers to slowly transition a system dominated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to one that shares and balances responsibility. The proposal comes as others arrive from lawmakers and policy makers to replace the GSEs.

The bank failure tally for 2012 rose Friday as state regulators shuttered a bank in Georgia, emboldening the state's reputation as a graveyard for community banks in recent years. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance turned off the lights for Doraville-based Global Commerce Bank, which went under with about $143.7 million in total assets and $116.8 million in total deposits. Neighboring Metro City Bank entered into a purchase-and-assumption transaction with the FDIC, scooping up $79 million in assets and leaving the rest to the agency for disposition.