Real estate auction veterans Larry Latham and Stephen Karbelk, CAI, AARE announced the launch of AmeriBid, their new global real estate auction company. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, AmeriBid will manage the sale of commercial, residential, and agricultural properties nationwide for lenders, servicers, estates, private owners, and investment companies.

Following the news from Case-Shiller that home prices rose in April for the first time in seven months, IHS Global Insight and Capital Economics both released commentaries speculating on the unexpected news and the housing market's future. IHS attributed the uptick in prices to three factors: Current low mortgage rates, strong investor demand, and a drop in homeowners listing their homes for sale. Capital Economics pointed to tight supply conditions as a cause for the price gain and said that these conditions are unlikely to last with foreclosure and short-sale processes happening quicker than before.

Increases in all aspects of Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio led to a higher (but still negative) annualized growth rate, according to the GSE's Monthly Volume Summary for May. The summary showed that Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio for the month shrank at an annualized rate of 9.4 percent, a drop from 14.1 percent in April but still far above March's 2.9 percent contraction rate. The negative annualized growth rate YTD is 6.8 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) of Tampa Bay has a new member in Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC), the company announced Monday.

The Hopp Law Firm, LLC announced Friday that Aaron Boneau has signed on as the firm's operations manager.

Butler & Hosch, P.A. announced that Stephanie Goble, the firm's VP of title operations, has been accepted for a vice chair position in the American Bar Association.

Commercial real estate prices fell in April across nearly all sectors, according to Moody's/RCA Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI). The CPPI, composed of 20 indices, showed that CRE prices in the United States were down 0.6 percent in April. Prices fell across all sectors of the CPPI with the exception of the industrial sub-sector, which saw a price gain of 1.1 percent. Compared to the last quarter, the industrial sector posted the biggest gain of 3.9 percent, but that gain still lags the recovery in the core commercial sector of which it is a part.

Although mortgage fraud activity seems to be leveling off, a report from MortgageDaily.com showed that mortgage fraud continues to cause foreclosure problems for the most victimized states. Florida held the highest state index with 163. The state has held the No. 1 position for four of the past five quarters. For the first time since the index's inception in 2006, North Carolina broke into the top five with an index of 53.

Clayton Holdings LLC announced Thursday that the company has hired Robert A. Harris to serve as general counsel.

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) announced Thursday that it is making available 203k home rehabilitation loans as part of the Homeowner's Assurance Program (HAP).