As the real estate market retreats further from the period of peak distress in home prices, declines are beginning to narrow, according to data released Thursday by First American CoreLogic. On a year-over-year basis, national home prices declined 3.7 percent in December--a notable improvement over November's 5.3 percent drop. According to First American's forecast, home price declines are expected to continue into the spring months, but close out the year with a modest gain.

Amid stabilization within the housing market, Freddie Mac reported Thursday that mortgage rates continued to inch down this week, hovering near record lows, with 30-year rates falling to 4.93 percent. ""Mortgage rates eased for the second week, while economic data releases suggest that the housing market may be in a slow state of recovery,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist.

The launch of StartSAFE, a comprehensive solution to aid banks in meeting the compliance requirements of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act), was announced Wednesday by TriNovus, LLC, a Birmingham, Alabama-based company focused on delivering relevant technology solutions to the financial marketplace.

Following multiple revisions and dismal closings, the Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program may experience revitalization. Irvine, California-based Banker's Portfolio, LLC, an innovative solution provider for the resolution of distressed assets, has secured a forward commitment for the purchase of the H4H securities and is rolling out the H4H product to existing mortgage investors, loan servicers, and asset managers as an alternative to foreclosure.

In an effort to make appraisal review more efficient, FNC, Inc., a mortgage technology company headquartered in Oxford, Mississippi, recently released the GARR Viewer, which works hand-in-hand with one of its flagship products--the Generally Accepted Appraisal Rules (GAAR) software.

The new Appraiser Independence requirements for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans officially took effect February 15, 2010. Originally planned for a January 1 implementation, the enactment was delayed to provide the FHA and lenders with additional time to adjust systems to accommodate the changes. The new rules are similar the the GSEs' HVCC, and market participants are expecting the same type of pushback to surface.

On Tuesday, Doug Criscitello was sworn in as the CFO at HUD. To his new position, Criscitello brings specialized experience in forecasting government finances, modeling financial risk of credit programs, performing budgetary and legislative analysis, and helping public sector agencies implement state-of-the-art financial technologies and practices.

According to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications decreased during the week ending February 12, 2010, marking the second consecutive week of declines.

With more than 100,000 positions eliminated in the mortgage industry from 2006 through 2008, it is clear that employment within this sector was strongly impacted by the downturn in the economy. However, as the economy begins to show signs of stabilization, mortgage employment is following suit. In 2009, the industry netted 8,321 new jobs, with 2,800 coming in the fourth quarter alone.

As part of its expansion efforts, Primary Capital, a residential mortgage company headquartered in Atlanta, recently announced the appointment of Jan Davidson as branch manager of the company's Cornelius, North Carolina office. ""Jan has a relentless dedication to customer service, which fits perfectly with Primary Capital's business model,"" said George Phelps, executive managing director of the company.