Headlines

Home prices rose in almost all metro areas in the U.S. mostly due to the increase in home sales, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors.

Quicken Loans reported on Tuesday that the gap between homeowner estimates and appraiser opinions of value in July was nearly double the gap between these values in May.

Commentary is an ongoing series on theMReport.com that focuses on opinions, ideas, and insights from experts across mortgage banking. This piece features Brad Schaltenbrand, director with Navigant’s Financial Services Practice, discussing a few TRID-related concerns among lenders and some viable solutions to these issues.

The Urban Institute addressed the looming questions surrounding the housing market health in a report released Monday, determining that no single indicator can gauge market health and the market is nowhere near 2001 levels.

United Wholesale Mortgage has announced the release of UClose, an industry-leading tool that will allow mortgage brokers to close their loans within an hour of receiving their clear to close.

Mid America Mortgage, Inc., owner and CEO Jeff Bode recently announced the promotion of Chris Hartman to sales manager of wholesale and correspondent operations.

B2R Finance recently announced the appointment of Brad Weber as the company's chief accounting officer. Weber will report to CFO Darren Thompson.

The University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate, a nationally-renowned real estate research center, has appointed Rodney Ramcharan as its research director. Ramcharan has also been named associate professor of real estate and public policy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Almost immediately, PHH and its lawyers, Los Angeles-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, petitioned the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to “modify or set aside civil investigative demand” while the company made its case against what it called an abuse of power by the CFPB.

The Federal Open Market Committee stated in its July meeting that more labor growth is needed before the Fed decides to raise the federal target funds rate. Will July's job gains drive the Fed to increase rates in September after years of keeping them near zero?