Consumer sentiment toward housing showed marked improvement over the course of 2013, ending the year on a high note, according to Fannie Mae. The GSE found that less than half of those polled expect home prices to increase over the next year, in line with trends pointing to a more measured and sustainable recovery. Overall, consumers were optimistic about their chances of obtaining financing and undeterred by rising interest rates.

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), one of the nation's fastest-growing wholesale lenders, has good reason to celebrate going into 2014: The company was ranked on MortgageStats.com as the No. 1 wholesale lender in the country for the third quarter of 2013. It was the first time the lender was able to take the top spot for wholesale origination volume in its history.

First Financial Bancorp is now serving the Fort Wayne, Indiana, market following the company's hiring of commercial and residential mortgage teams in the area. The bank expects to add its full line of consumer products and services in Fort Wayne over the course of the year.

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks continued to improve in the third quarter of 2013, reports the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulator's latest report indicates strengthening economic conditions, mortgage servicing transfers, home retention efforts, and home forfeiture actions are all contributing to improved performance of banks' residential mortgage assets.

The United States Senate voted Monday to confirm Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve following Ben Bernanke's departure at the end of January. She will be the first woman to take the job in the Fed's history. According to reports, Yellen's nomination passed in a vote of 56-26. Like her predecessor, Yellen seems to favor the strategy of keeping monetary policies loose as the economy works to get back on its feet--a position her opponents have criticized.

After months of contentious debate, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) finally has a new director. Mel Watt, the former North Carolina congressman, was sworn in Monday to a five-year term as the first Senate-confirmed director of the FHFA. Watt, 68, represented the 12th congressional district of North Carolina as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 21 years prior to accepting his new post.

Genworth Financial, Inc., announced the hiring of Lori M. Evangel as EVP and chief risk officer. Evangel joins the company from Aflac, where she served as managing director and chief risk officer for global developments, positions that involved her working to develop the company's investment division risk management function.

The information technology company Dhandhania Infotech (DhanInfo) is expanding its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations to meet growing demand from U.S. customers for its real estate- and mortgage-related services. The India-based company assists corporations with staff-centric tasks such as property preservation data entry, real estate virtual assistants, and search engine optimization for Internet marketing.

Borrowers earning at least $100,000 per year are more likely to use the Internet when shopping for a home, while those making less than $50,000 rely more on agents, lenders, and advice from family and friends when making borrowing decisions, according to recently released survey results from Fannie Mae. However, all income groups said they would like to make greater use of available online tools than they currently do.

MERSCORP Holdings was once again absolved from legal misconduct according to the company. The Virginia-based company announced on Friday that the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on December 31, 2013 in Mayme Brown v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc, (MERS) affirming the U.S. District Court's dismissing all of the Clerk's claims against MERS.