Fixed mortgage rates started the year at or near their all-time record lows. Data from Freddie Mac shows the interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 3.91 percent for the week ending January 5, 2012, matching the record low set just two weeks earlier. This marks the fifth consecutive week the 30-year rate has come in below the 4.00 percent mark. The 15-year fixed-rate is averaging 3.23 percent, just two basis points above its all-time low hit in December.

President Obama on Wednesday exercised his executive power by using Congress' recess to appoint Richard Cordray director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), devoid of a Senate confirmation vote. Without a confirmed director, the CFPB's reach was limited. Now that Obama has single-handedly positioned Cordray at the helm, the bureau has the authority to extend its regulatory powers to non-bank entities such as mortgage brokers and non-depository lenders.

Wipro Gallagher Solutions (WGS), a provider of end-to-end lending solutions for financial institutions, has redefined its fulfillment offerings to better meet the demands of middle- and top-tier lenders and their servicers. WGS has revised its business process outsourcing (BPO) packages depending on the lender's volume of originations and service offerings, with solutions tailored to fulfill clients' specific needs.

Pending home sales continued to rise in November, reaching their highest level in 19 months, the National Association of Realtors reported. The trade group's index of signed sales contracts jumped 7.3 percent between October and November and is 5.9 percent above its level a year earlier. The last time the index was higher was in April 2010 as buyers rushed to beat the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit. Analysts say the results are likely to feed the view that there is a recovery going on in the housing market.

First American Title Insurance Company announced Tuesday the availability of Quick Start HARP - a title, signing, and settlement program that features proprietary technology to facilitate the processing of refinance closings under the newly revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, more commonly known as HARP 2.0. Program changes are expected to help lenders reach a previously untapped population of American homeowners, and First American says its new solution will improve pull-through and closing times.

Sirote & Permutt announced Tuesday that Clifton D. Gavin, Esq. has joined the firm's Pensacola, Florida, office and will practice in the mortgage litigation group. Gavin brings with him legal experience in commercial litigation and transactional law. His practice focuses on representing secured creditors, including national, regional, and local mortgage lenders, in addition to other secured creditors and servicers in consumer bankruptcy cases.

Data released last week by Standard & Poor's indicates the fourth quarter of 2011 started with broad-based declines in home prices. The 20-city composite of S&P's closely watched Case-Shiller index was down 1.2 percent in October versus September. Home prices dropped in 19 of the 20 cities covered by the S&P/Case-Shiller Index. Phoenix was the only metro to see a month-over-month increase. Looking at the year-over-year comparisons, S&P says home prices are down more than 3 percent.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is extending the temporary waiver of its property anti-flipping rule. FHA rules typically prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. In 2010, however, the agency waived this regulation, and later extended the waiver through 2011. This latest extension permits the use of FHA-insured financing for HUD-owned and bank-owned properties, no matter how long the homeowner has held the title, through December 31, 2012.

Mortgage rates will likely remain very low, at least through mid-2012, according to Freddie Mac. Rates on 30-year conforming mortgages have hovered around 4.0 percent or lower for the past quarter. The GSE says that in large part due to the Federal Reserve's program for extending the maturity date for mortgage securities it holds. This program is expected to continue through the middle of next year and should keep fixed rates for 15- through 30-year mortgages elatively low during the first half of the year.

Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts says the civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week against six former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ""does not go nearly far enough."" Brown is pressing the Department of Justice and the SEC to immediately open criminal investigations into Fannie and Freddie. The senator says authorities need to take a closer look at the GSEs' business dealings prior to the housing collapse and their disclosure of subprime mortgage holdings.