Competition for homes decreased in August for the fifth month in a row according to data compiled by the Redfin Research Center. The report concludes that the diminishing number of bidding wars indicates that the housing market is shifting away from one that favors sellers toward a more balanced environment.

In August, lenders completed 261 foreclosures in Massachusetts-–a 54 percent drop from the same month last year, according to the Warren Group. August marks the 15th consecutive month of year-over-year foreclosure deed decreases. The 54 percent drop in foreclosure deeds compares to the 566 deeds completed in August 2012.

MCT Trading announced that is has been chosen as one of the 2013 Best Places to Work in San Diego by the San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ). The SDBJ’s Best Places to Work Awards are designed to identify, recognize, and honor the best places of employment in San Diego, benefiting the county’s economy, workforce and businesses.

Effective October 1, 2013, HUD has announced the following changes to their Federal Housing Administration (FHA) short sale requirements: To be eligible, one must successfully complete a short sale under the FHA short sale program. The borrowers must meet the following requirements: They cannot list the property with or sell it to anyone with whom they are related or have a close personal or business relationship.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed a series of sweeping reforms for that state’s force-placed insurance industry. The reforms come in the wake of an investigation that found numerous instances of abuse in the industry. Forced-placed insurance, which is insurance that a lien holder places on a property to cover a lapse of mortgage insurance, has drawn particular scrutiny from regulators because it has proven relatively easy to abuse.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors has agreed to acquire a customer service operations center in Monroe, Louisiana, from JP Morgan Chase. The acquisition will include 400 employees and will bring Wingspan to more than 2,000 employees nationwide. The new center will handle inbound and outbound customer service calls and electronic communication.

The U.S. Treasury, the County of Santa Clara and the Silicon Valley business community pledged their collective support to create solutions for Silicon Valley’s housing shortage by providing an infusion of almost $3 million in funding for Housing Trust Silicon Valley’s (HTSV) affordable housing programs.

Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI) announced Monday that it will reduce rates and expand its Simply Underwrite program, which simplifies the underwriting process for customers that deliver loans through automated underwriting systems of the GSEs. The credit policy changes will more closely align Genworth’s approval process with the automated programs utilized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

As the federal government ground to a halt Tuesday, the question of how the shutdown will affect the housing market remains at the front of everyone's mind. So how will the housing market react? The answer: it depends. Most economists agree that the short-term effects of the shutdown should be minimal, assuming that the shutdown is short-lived.

HUD has delayed its prohibition of dual agency listings on short-sale properties according to a statement made this week by the National Association of Realtors(NAR). The HUD prohibition had first been made known in a July letter to mortgage servicers outlining new anti-fraud requirements for short sales and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions.