Headlines

The homeownership rate dropped 0.1 percentage point to 65.2 percent over the fourth quarter 2013. The rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the Census Bureau.

Mortgage rates closed out December—and the year—with one final, small increase, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported. FHFA’s national data for December shows the contract interest rate on the composite of all mortgage loans was 4.25 percent, an increase of 3 basis points from the month prior.

As part of its ongoing efforts to modernize its processes, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has granted expanded authority to lenders to accept e-Signatures on loan documents. The new policy allows e-Signatures on origination, servicing, and loss mitigation documents. Also included are those related to FHA insurance claims and REO sales contracts.

In its “advance” estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) last quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) put growth at an estimated annual rate of 3.2 percent. For all of 2013, the bureau estimates real GDP increased 1.9 percent compared to a gain of 2.8 percent in 2012.

Out of Houston, TeleVoice, a provider of customized telephony applications, announced that servicing provider Cenlar FSB is now leveraging its Interactive Voice Response and Computer Telephony Integration solutions to aid its compliance efforts in light of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new mortgage servicing rules.

Massachusetts home sales came down for the second month in December, while prices continued to increase at a steady clip, the Warren Group reported Wednesday. Single-family home sales in the Bay State dropped less than a percent last month to 3,712 from December 2012’s 3,725. According to the company, it was the lowest number of sales recorded in one month since April. “Sales and prices set a torrid pace in the third quarter of 2013 and through October. Now the market is taking a breather,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of the Warren Group.

December's bitterly cold weather kept home shoppers away from the market in December, driving competition down further across most markets. Redfin's most recent Real-Time Bidding Wars report shows 52.0 percent of offers made by the company's agents faced competition last month, down from 52.8 percent in November and 62.4 percent a year earlier.

In Kansas City, Martin, Leigh, Laws & Fritzlen, P.C., announced the addition of associate attorney Gregory D. Todd. Todd graduated in 2004 from the University Of Kansas School Of Law. He also earned his bachelor's there, graduating with a degree in biology in 2000.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC appointed Ed Ciemny to lead its office in Oak Brook, Illinois, the company announced. As branch manager, Ciemny's focus will be on directing the company's growth in Northwest Illinois as well as providing expanded offerings and faster turn times to meet demand in the Chicagoland area. Before being named to take over the Oak Brook branch, Ciemny served as Midwest Sales Manager for Carrington.

Anyone combing through President Obama's State of the Union address hoping for a hint on housing policy in the year ahead surely came away disappointed. Instead, much of Obama's focus went toward addressing wages, which have been slow to move as home prices continue to climb higher. Also on Obama's mind Tuesday was the country's unemployment situation, which looked grim as of the end of December.