[ca_audio url_mp3='http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/5/714/show_5714081.mp3' css_class='codeart-google-mp3-player' autoplay='false' download='false' html5='false']Behind the Curtain – A look at the two simple engines that drive every change in the trend trajectory of mortgage interest rates. Larry Baer is the founder and president of Market Alert, Inc. – ...

The average down payment on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan in the third quarter of this year was 15.73 percent, according to LendingTree, an online marketplace connecting potential borrowers with lenders. The third-quarter average is down 2.74 percent from the previous quarter. LendingTree suggests the drop is due to a slight loosening of standards by lenders across the nation.

Typically, when the mercury in the thermometer heads south, so does homebuying activity. Not so this year, according to Realtor.com. The numbers from the company's latest National Housing Trend Report seem to indicate a defiance of seasonal patterning and instead ""show the 2013 fall market moving at a fast pace,"" Realtor.com reports.

MountainView Servicing Group announced another mortgage servicing rights (MSR) offering on Tuesday, this one a Fannie Mae portfolio valued at $152 million in unpaid principal balance. MountainView's lead advisor on the sale says these kinds of offerings are becoming more commonplace as competition over servicing rights grows within the marketplace.

JPMorgan Chase has struck a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve civil claims over residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued prior to January 1, 2009, by the bank and two financial institutions it acquired in 2008. The $13 billion settlement is the largest in American history between the U.S. government and a single entity and includes $4 billion in relief for consumers and communities impacted by the housing crisis.

NexTitle, based in Bellevue, Washington, announced plans to expand its operations with a new office in Lake Oswego, Oregon, which the firm intends to make its flagship office in the state. The company also announced it was selected from a field of finalists in the title and escrow field to receive the 2013 Business and Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Title and Escrow Company presented by the Washington Association of Mortgage Professionals.

Collaboration between the private and public sectors has resulted in 8 million non-foreclosure solutions completed for at-risk families since 2007, according to HOPE NOW, a voluntary alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers, and nonprofit housing counselors. Over the last six years, the mortgage industry has completed more than 6.71 million total permanent loan modifications, while short sales total approximately 1.39 million since December 2009.

[ca_audio url_mp3='http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/5/701/show_5701591.mp3' css_class='codeart-google-mp3-player' autoplay='false' download='false' html5='false']Brent Nyitray, Director of Capital Markets for iServe Residential Lending dissects recent stock price declines in Nationstar and Ocwen as well as recent Stonegate and CherryHill IPOs. Are fundamentals sound or is the market correction ...

Home sales continue to seesaw--while levels increased from the previous year, they dipped from the previous month in October, according to the latest market report from RE/MAX. Following historic seasonal trends, October home sales edged 2.8 percent lower than September, but still pushed 2.2 percent higher than sales in October 2012. At the same time, median home prices were 11.9 percent above prices seen last October.