According to ZipRealty, the coveted title of ""Most Affordable Market of 2013"" goes to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where the median sales price is 5.27 times the median household income. In fact, metro areas in Texas and in non-coastal regions are the best places to find a real estate bargain, according to ZipRealty. Meanwhile, metros located on or close to the coasts make up the list of least affordable areas. Washington, D.C., takes the top spot, with the average median price costing 16.78 times the average household income.

Unexpectedly positive employment and spending data drove mortgage rates to their highest level since August in the last week, according to reports from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rose to 3.63 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending March 14, up from 3.52 percent last week. Bankrate reported even more dramatic shifts this week, with the 30-year fixed average climbing 12 basis points to 3.85 percent.

A former Treasury secretary is joining Lender Processing Services' (LPS) board of directors, the company announced. John Snow, Ph.D., was appointed to serve on the risk and compliance committee of the Florida-based company's board of directors.

According to FHFA, nearly 1.1 million HARP refinances were completed in 2012, bringing total volume to 2.2 million since the program's implementation in April 2009. The top five states for HARP refinances (since 2009) are California (which has reported 301,327 refinances under the program), Florida (175,686), Illinois (147,252), Michigan (144,709), and Arizona (106,387). In December, 18 percent of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for 15- and 20-year mortgages, which build equity faster than the traditional 30-year mortgage.

The Los Angeles Times obtained more than 1,600 pages of FDIC settlements from 2007 through 2013 addressing a variety of behaviors (ranging from reckless lending to inflated appraisals). According to the report, many of these settlements went unannounced, sparing the institutions from negative attention. These ""no-press-release arrangements"" sometimes help FDIC close deals with defendants in the least costly manner possible.

A justice for New York's Supreme Court has ordered Nationstar to stop the auction of some of its mortgage notes through Auction.com. KIRP LLC filed a complaint against Nationstar over its selling of non-performing loans backing securities. KIRP argues that as master servicer, Nationstar has the authority to foreclose or modify the loans, not to sell them. An analysis of the case by Barclays determined it is unclear what the courts will decide and if the decision applies across the board, ""given the wide variation in the language of the servicing agreements.""

FDIC announced Friday the closure of Frontier Bank, based in LaGrange, Georgia. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance shut down the bank, appointing FDIC as receiver. HeritageBank of the South (Albany, Georgia)has picked up all of Frontier Bank's $224.1 million in deposits and ""virtually all"" of the closed bank's $258.8 million in assets, FDIC said.

Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC), a post-closing services provider located in Palm Harbor, Florida, announced the promotion of longtime employee Michael O'Connell to COO. O'Connell has been with NTC for eight years, formerly leading the sales and client relations teams as VP of client relations.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Lender Processing Services, Inc., (LPS) announced the launch of new mortgage insurance (MI) products through the LPS Loan Quality Gateway.

Vericrest Financial, Inc., a Dallas-based financial services company specializing in residential mortgage loan servicing, announced the appointment of Joe Anderson to chairman and CEO, effective immediately.