Home prices continued to inch up in November, according to Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Home Price Index (HPI) for the month. LPS' data showed home prices increased to an average $207,000 in November, an increase of 0.5 percent from $206,000 in October. On a year-over-year basis, prices were up 5.1 percent from November 2011's $197,000. Florida topped the list of states to see the largest price gains in November, posting a 1.5 percent month-over-month improvement.

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday that the controversial recess appointments made by President Obama in January 2012--which includes the appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)--are ""invalid from their inception."" In Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board, the court examines the recess appointments of three members of the board--Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin, all of whom were appointed January 4, during a three-day Senate break. While he is not specifically named in the court's opinion, Cordray was also appointed to his CFPB post that day.

The last few weeks have seen a deluge of new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other regulatory agencies, but a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the reform process is still coming along slowly. As of the end of 2012, GAO estimates regulators have issued rules for approximately 48 percent of the Dodd-Frank provisions that call for them. Most of the effective deadlines for those rules have not yet been reached, the agency says.

San Diego-based BankersLab, the first company to deliver gamified training products for the retail banking industry, announced the launch of a new Android quiz app designed to reinforce technical scoring concepts and terminology.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and General Electric (GE) have reached a settlement to resolve claims of misrepresented mortgage-backed securities (MBS) sold to Freddie Mac. The settlement brings to a close one of 18 legal actions filed by FHFA against various financial institutions in its capacity as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA's suit, filed in 2011, alleged GE misrepresented the quality of loans contained in $549 million of MBS sold to Freddie Mac.

Positive economic and housing news lifted fixed mortgage rates to their highest level in months this week. According to Freddie Mac&'s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.42 (0.7 point) for the week ending January 24, up from 3.38 percent last week. The last time the average 30-year reading was this high was September 29 of last year, Freddie Mac said. The 15-year fixed average also rose, climbing to 2.67 percent (0.7 point) from 2.66 percent previously.

In Maryland, technology development firm IndiSoft has been recognized by SmartCEO magazine for its quick growth and contributions to the Baltimore community in the last three years. IndiSoft was listed among 49 other companies in the January ""Future 50"" issue of Baltimore SmartCEO.

One of the nation's largest homebuilders is partnering up with one of the fastest growing mortgage holding companies to create a new entity. In a joint announcement, KB Home and Nationstar Mortgage LLC announced an agreement to form Home Community Mortgage, LLC, a limited liability company offering a range of mortgage banking services to KB Home customers.

U.S. home values in 2012 rose 5.9 percent over 2011, according to data in Zillow's latest Home Value Index (HVI). The 5.9 percent appreciation rate is the largest annual gain since August 2006, near the peak of the housing bubble. As home values rose throughout 2012's fourth quarter, foreclosure activity declined, with 5.22 out of every 10,000 homes nationwide facing foreclosure in December.

In Michigan, zipLogix, the creator of zipForm--the real estate industry's leading contract software--announced the release of a new web conferencing service powered by AnyMeeting, a leader in small business web conferencing.