Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS), a nationwide provider of property preservation, inspections, and REO property maintenance, announced Monday that Marc Hinkle has joined the company as SVP of strategic initiatives. In this position, he will focus on enhancing the client experience and integrating new technologies. Hinkle joins MCS after more than 17 years at PHH Mortgage, most recently as VP and servicing manager.

Markets in North Dakota and Hawaii show the strongest potential for home price appreciation over the next year, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions. At the other end of the spectrum, the company sees continued weakness in some of the hardest hit markets of California, Nevada, and Florida, although price depreciation is expected to slow dramatically from the free-fall days of earlier in the downturn. Veros' national home price index continues to show stability in its quarterly results, holding fairly constant at -1.7 percent.

The national homeownership rate fell by 1.1 percentage points between 2000 and 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau says it's the steepest drop since the period from 1930 to 1940. Housing woes are, without question, taking a bite out of the American Dream. Unprecedented levels of foreclosures have forced more than 3 million homeowners out of their homes over the past four years. And with $7 trillion in home equity wiped out since 2005, many are leery of putting their hard-earned dollars toward an investment that is still depreciating.

WFG National Title Insurance Company has added Manny Losquadro to its roster to grow and support the company's customer base in New York and New Jersey. Losquadro joins WFG National Title with 15 years' experience in the settlement services industry. He most recently held a role in agency sales with a large national title insurance company, spending almost 10 years between two divisions in that position after servicing as agency auditor for five years.

The nation's unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent during the month of September, as employers added a net of 103,000 new jobs to their payrolls, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Since April, the rate has held in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent. Government data shows that there are 14 million people out of work in the United States, and one in three of those have been without a job for more than a year. Job loss - long-term unemployment especially - is now the biggest driver of mortgage defaults.

The analysts at Fitch Ratings warn that before the housing market pulls out of this downturn, half of prime borrowers could wind up underwater on their mortgage. Data released last month by CoreLogic shows that one in five of all residential mortgages in the U.S. is in a negative equity position. But segment out just those homeowners with prime mortgages, and Fitch says one in three currently owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth.

Home prices in the U.S. slipped 0.4 percent between July and August, CoreLogic reported Thursday. It marks the first time in four months the company's index has recorded a decline. Based on CoreLogic's assessment, national home prices were down 4.4 percent in August when compared to a year earlier. That figure includes distressed sales, such as short sales and REO transactions. Take the distress factor out, and prices are down by just 0.7 percent year-over-year.

The average rate for the conventional 30-year fixed mortgage has dropped below the 4 percent mark for the first time in history, according to numbers released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The GSE's market analysis also shows that the 15-year fixed rate - which has become a popular refinancing option among existing homeowners - fell to its lowest level on record for the sixth consecutive week. Freddie's national survey puts the average rate for a 30-year mortgage at 3.94 percent and the 15-year rate at 3.26 percent.

Marcy J. Ford, partner and EVP at Trott & Trott, P.C., was recently selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of mortgage banking foreclosure law. Ford is the chair of the executive management team at the firm, which provides residential default and foreclosure avoidance services. She is a 1993 cum laude graduate of Wayne State University Law School.

Clear Capital has released its forecast for home prices heading into the first part of next year. The company says the market is flirting with a ""triple-dip"" by next spring. Last spring prices did a double-dip, dropping below this cycle's previous low point. While prices have ticked up in recent months, Clear Capital is projecting a drop of 1.6 percent over the last three months of this year, and another 3.2 percent by next April, moving prices dangerously close to the levels seen at the end of the first quarter of 2011.