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Pending home sales increased in March and remain above year-ago levels, but contract activity in recent months shows only modest movement, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. ...

Regional Spotlight—The Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® (MORe) recently announced a new program that will provide consumers in the Chicago suburbs with a comprehensive system for rating REALTORS®. MORe is the largest local association in the nation and the first in the Midwest to offer such a service. ...

Nationally, house prices continued to rise in February, contributing to the overall recovery in U.S. house prices. According to the most recent release  by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. house prices rose by 0.7 percent

Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 units in March, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. “This is the second-best sales number we’ve seen since early 2010, and a good sign of the continued, gradual headway that our industry is making toward recovery as more buyers jump off the fence in time to take advantage of today’s low interest rates and prices,” said Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. “The latest sales report is right in line with our forecast for continued, modest increases in home prices and sales through 2013,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “At this point, we are about half-way back to what would be considered a ‘normal’ level of sales activity

(MCT)—With solar panel prices plunging and generous tax credits and incentives still available, now may be as good a time as any to go solar. But shopping for a solar power system can be a tough task. Consumers face a bewildering array of options. There are thousands of different solar panel models from dozens of manufacturers. In some regions, consumers can choose from among hundreds of different panel installers. And once they pick their panels and a contractor, they have to figure out how to pay for their system from among several different methods.

Since late last year, industry experts forecast a drop in mortgage refinancings as rates rise, and a revival of purchase mortgages, as the housing recovery creates business for lenders willing to work with buyers. The spring housing market is here and now the mortgage market is following. Purchase mortgages zoomed to their highest monthly market share since last August in Ellie Mae’s latest originations report, a sign that the mortgage business is shifting gears and the greatest boom in refis in recent years is ending. Loans to buyers made up 38 percent of all loans processed by the nation’s largest mortgage processing platform, up from 32 percent in February and 27 percent in January.

As the market continues to shift, one industry trend seems to be making continuous waves: vacation homes. With low prices and mortgage rates still available in most parts of the country, affluent buyers—or those who have always dreamed of a cabin on a lake—are making their move and purchasing second homes in exotic locations to be used as vacation getaways. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), sales of investment and vacation homes jumped in 2011, with the combined marketshare rising to the highest level since 2005. NAR’s 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, covering existing- and new-home transactions in 2011, showed vacation-home sales rose

(MCT)—Underwater homeowners with Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will be able to try to refinance their mortgages for another two years. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Thursday that Fannie and Freddie’s Home Affordable Refinance Program, which was set to expire Dec. 31, will be extended until the end of 2015. “More than 2 million homeowners have refinanced through HARP, proving it a useful tool for reducing risk,” FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco said in a statement.

With tight mortgage lending standards preventing well-qualified home buyers from obtaining home loans and impeding the housing and economic recovery, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently expressed support for congressional efforts to reform the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) but urged lawmakers to proceed in a cautious manner to avoid any disruptions to the nation’s housing finance system. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, NAHB First Vice Chairman Kevin Kelly, a builder and developer from Wilmington, Del., points out the vital role

Expectations among bank risk professionals for the relaxation of lending standards increased sharply in the first quarter, rising from 12.1 to 19.9 percent, according to the quarterly FICO/PRMIA survey. One out of five bank risk professionals now expect the approval criteria for loans to become less stringent, the third highest level ever registered for looser lending standards in the three year history of the FICO survey. The rising expectations for looser standards is a reversal of bankers’ views in the fourth quarter of 2012, when only 12.1 percent expected standards to become less stringent, the lowest level in survey history.

(MCT)—As part of a settlement with federal regulators, 13 lenders this week are starting to pay out $3.6 billion to more than 4 million troubled borrowers whose homes were in foreclosure proceedings in 2009 and 2010.

Results from NAHB’s What Home Buyers Really Want  survey and a combination of Census Bureau/HUD data show that new homes generally do a good job of satisfying the typical buyer’s desire for living space, especially when compared to existing homes on the market. A simple way to get an idea of how new and existing homes match up with buyer preferences is to look at the share of homes above a particular size threshold. For example, 62 percent of the recent and prospective home buyers in NAHB’s survey want a home that’s at least 2,000 square feet—exactly the same as the share of new single-family homes started in 2011.

During New Homes Month in April, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is showing home buyers why they can afford a higher-priced home—if it’s new construction. Using data from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2011 American Housing Survey, NAHB found that buyers can purchase a more expensive newer home and achieve the same annual operating costs as an older, existing home. “Home buyers need to look beyond the initial sales price when considering whether to buy new construction or an existing home,” says NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C.

Look out 90210; a new ZIP code in Aspen, Colo., is making California-sized waves. Recently, Coldwell Banker Previews International®, the Coldwell Banker brand’s luxury real estate marketing program,

CoreLogic®, a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, has released its February CoreLogic HPI® report. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 10.2 percent on a year-over-year basis