Though Capitol Hill's gridlock over the debt ceiling was resolved--for now, at least--mortgage rates this week took a spill as market uncertainty spooked investors. Freddie Mac released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey Thursday, which shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to an average rate of 4.13 percent for the week ending October 24, down from 4.28 percent last week and hitting its lowest point in about four months.

Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents, announced the hiring of Katherine Kitty Stevens, Esq. as VP of Florida agent training and business development.

A 10-person panel of jurors is holding Bank of America and a mid-level manager liable for high-risk mortgages originated by Countrywide through a program known as Hustle and then sold off to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After hearing arguments for four weeks in a Manhattan federal court, the jury returned a decision finding BofA liable on one charge of fraud in the civil case and finding Rebecca Mairone, former COO of one of Countrywide's lending divisions, liable on the one civil fraud charge she faced.

Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) announced that Paul Lee has been named CFO. Lee will work in the company's North Texas office, succeeding Michael Carroll, who is retiring after serving more than eight years in the position.

Redfin's Real-Time Bidding Wars report shows 58.3 percent of offers written by Redfin agents across the country faced bidding wars in September, down from 60.5 percent in August. Last September, 62.7 percent of offers faced competing bids. With competition diminishing, Redfin has also observed a fall in the number of homes selling at above asking price. On average across all tracked markets, buyers paid 0.4 percent below asking price (compared to 0.3 percent in August).

Marking 19 consecutive months of appreciation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in August. On a yearly basis, the index is up 8.5 percent. Of the nine census divisions, FHFA detected the greatest monthly price increase in the Mountain division, where prices increased 1.3 percent in August. The greatest monthly decrease took place in the South Atlantic division, where prices declined 0.5 percent.

The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program has provided counseling to almost 1.6 million homeowners across the country since the program started in 2008. According to an NFMC congressional report released this week, common attributes of struggling homeowners include unemployment or underemployment and high mortgage rates. The report also indicates a homeowner who seeks counseling is 97 percent more likely to obtain a loan modification and avoid foreclosure.

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August's rising mortgage rates continued to impact refinance numbers reported by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) latest data. The agency reported 302,373 refinances between the two companies in August, down from 360,121 in July. The GSEs reported an estimated 68,340 HARP refinances for the month, bringing the total number of HARP loans to 2.9 million since the program's inception.

While maintaining that tight credit and rapid price gains present the greatest threats to the recovery, Capital Economics now says rising mortgage rates are also taking their toll. Tracking activity from May through September, the firm found refinancing has declined 70 percent, accompanied by a 120-basis point climb in rates. And increases in home purchases have largely been driven by those immune to higher interest rates--investors and cash buyers.