The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the February edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data continues to show signs that the housing market is strengthening, although the recovery remains fragile. The supply of new and existing homes on the market continued to decline last month. However, home prices dipped again as seasonal lows continued for the fourth month in a row. The continued fragility of the housing market underscores the need for recently-announced expansions of assistance to help prevent foreclosures and strengthen hard hit communities. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

In the wake of U.S. District Court approval of a class action lawsuit settlement agreement, American Home Shield officials said they were pleased that the court confirmed the compliancy

(MCT)—The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to shrink the seized housing-finance giants gradually and create a new market for mortgage-backed securities to help the private sector. The recommendations came in a new strategic plan for Fannie and Freddie submitted to lawmakers Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has overseen the companies since they were put into government conservatorship in 2008 to avoid their failure. Fannie and Freddie have almost single-handedly kept the housing finance market afloat in recent years.

Recently, as lawmakers continue to debate infrastructure bills, a new report released by the Center for American Progress proposes a plan to enable significant progress in bringing America's infrastructure up to par.

Last Wednesday, February 1, President Obama announced the details of a plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in hopes of bolstering the housing market. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, this proposal will allow buyers to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing into loans backed by the FHA, if they are current on their mortgage. The plan is estimated to cost between $5 billion and $10 billion, which Obama plans to cover by pressing a fee on large banks.

(MCT)—Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not. FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit risk in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, largely have been based on a person’s credit history. But in an attempt to develop a more well-rounded picture of a person’s finances beyond credit, tools are being developed to help the lending industry dig deeper.

There is the possibility that without Congressional action, two programs of vital importance to the real estate business will sunset on September 30, 2011. The end of the current extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the lowering of FHA and

This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS? include: Facebook case study; send up to five documents a month free with REALTOR Benefits® Program Partner, DocuSign®,;and register for a free safety webinar on social media and cyber safety. For more information visit www.REALTOR.org. ...

RISMEDIA, April 12, 2011—The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® and Charlie Oppler, NAR’s Special Liaison for Large Firm Relations. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.

RISMEDIA, April 12, 2011—The apartment industry made a surprising recovery in 2010 from the "Great Recession," and that recovery is reflected in the 2011 NMHC 50, the National Multi Housing Council's annual ranking of the 50 largest apartment owners and 50 largest managers. The NMHC 50 helps document the apartment industry's evolution over time and helps identify trends within the sector and up-and-coming new players.

RISMEDIA, April 7, 2011—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have released the March edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard. Officials caution that the latest housing figures underscore

RISMEDIA, April 7, 2011—(MCT)—Federal regulators recently asked for public comment by June 10, 2011 on their proposal to require lenders that package mortgages for the secondary market to assume some of the risk of those loans. The regulators didn't need to ask, however, as there

RISMEDIA, March 21, 2011—Despite the uptick in sales of homes worth one million dollars or more last year (up 18.6% in 2010 according to DataQuick) the average American homebuyer is still proceeding with a large degree of caution. Below are six reasons why even qualified homebuyers are holding out on ...

RISMEDIA, December 28, 2010—Improvements in consumer spending and consumer confidence, increased demand for goods and services, and falling unemployment claims are all positive factors for a brighter outlook as we move into 2011, according to the December 2010 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae's (OTC Bulletin Board: FNMA) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group.

RISMEDIA, December 28, 2010—The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston announced that a Manchester initiative will receive more than $2.1 million through its Affordable Housing Program. These funds, awarded in the form of a grant, loan, and interest-rate subsidy, will be used to finance 26 units of affordable rental housing ...