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Personal income jumped 0.6 percent in November--twice what economists forecast--improving $85.8 billion, while spending rose a hefty 0.4 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Friday. The growth in spending matched economists├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó forecasts. The jump in spending reversed a $6.6 billion decline in October but fell short of the $86.2 increase in consumption recorded in September.

On a monthly basis, home values inched up by 0.6 percent to $156,200 in November, according to Zillow's Home Value Index. Compared to November 2011, home values have increased by 5.2 percent, which is the biggest yearly gain since August 2006. Twenty-six of the 30 largest metros tracked by Zillow registered yearly gains. Not surprisingly, Phoenix led with a 23.2 percent increase. The metro was followed by San Jose (+13.4 percent), San Francisco (+12.1 percent), Las Vegas (+11 percent), and Denver (+10.8 percent).

ClosingCorp, a leading provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technologies for mortgage and real estate professionals, announced Mark Nogaki has joined the company as SVP of sales.

GPE Companies, a Phoenix-based commercial real estate and property management services provider, announced it has been selected as one of the Valley's "Best Places to Work" in 2012 by the Phoenix Business Journal.

Existing-home sales rose 5.9 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million, the highest level since November 2009, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Economists had expected the sales pace to improve to 4.9 million. The increase in sales in November was the fourth in the last six months, following a similar pattern from 2011. According to the NAR's data, November existing-home sales--closed transactions--were up 14.5 percent from one year earlier.

Collecting data from the company's 45-member Construction Users Roundtable (CURT), FMI released the results of its most recent study on the sector.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance increased 17,000 to 361,000 for the week ending December 15, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to increase to 359,000. The previous week's report was revised upward to 344,000 from the originally reported 343,000.

Despite a continuing surge in builder confidence, housing starts dropped 3.0 percent in November to 861,000, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported jointly Wednesday. Single-family starts dropped 4.1 percent in November, accounting for most of the drop in total starts. Activity was unaffected by superstorm Sandy, which hit the Northeast at the end of October, as most of the drop in single-family starts came in the West and Midwest.

Freddie Mac CFO Ross J. Kari is making plans to retire in the second half of 2013, the GSE announced. While Kari has not yet selected an official date to depart from Freddie Mac, he informed the company he intends to retire in the latter half of the year following his 55th birthday.

Purchase originations gained a bit more ground on refinances in November, according to Ellie Mae's latest Origination Insight Report. According to the findings, refinance originations pulled back slightly to represent 68 percent of loans closed, down from 69 percent in the October report. Meanwhile, the share of purchase loans increased to 32 percent from 31 percent previously. Though refinances are slowly losing ground, refinance share remains well above its May level, when refinance and purchase shares were fairly equal.