Will it be a Merry Christmas for the housing market? New data sheds light on why the outlook may remain “cloudy.”

The NAACP, in light of the government's recent regulatory focus on Wall Street, applauded President Obama, enthusiastically supporting his refusal to endorse the Corker-Warner legislation, a bill that would remove the institutions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replace the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) with yet another government backstop, both of which they see as posing a direct threat to the middle-class and minorities' financial well-being and ability to own or finance homes.

A July monthly property intelligence report (PIR) conducted by Dataquick, a provider of real estate information solutions, reveals a monthly and annual rise in home prices for every single participating U.S. county out of the 42 evaluated. In fact, home prices have hiked an average of over 13 percent versus this time last year. Per DataQuick's data, this rise in price has been directly linked to fewer foreclosures, limited property availability, and an overall decline in transactions.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), applications for new home sales are on the rise.

Are indices incorrectly misleading the market regarding the rise of house prices? "Yes" is what the market appears to be saying when it comes to rising house prices.

In a company release, Tommy Duncan, CEO of Quality Mortgage Services (QMS) and Certified Mortgage Technologist, exposed and explained the top three compliance issues concerning problematic mortgage origination applications.

Realtor.com released its National Housing Trend Report for the month of June 2013, revealing significant gains in several major market indicators. Statistics showed a significant jump in both year-over-year median list prices and month-over-month inventories in pivotal California markets (with raises of over 20 percent and over 40 percent respectively). Nationwide, the median list price was up 5.27 percent year-over-year. In addition, June's inventories were 4.26 percent more than those in May.

A report released Monday by the Census Bureau revealed an estimated annual rate of $874.9 billion (seasonally adjusted) for construction spending in the month of May 2013. Private residential construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted rate of $322.3 billion, 1.2 percent higher than the $318.5 billion revised April estimate. The month's nonresidential construction spending showed an annual rate of $238.1 billion, down 1.4 percent from the revised April estimate of $287.1 billion.

Overall, the commercial banks and savings institutions covered by the FDIC reported an aggregate net income yielding of $40.3 billion this quarter, an impressive $5.5 billion (or 15.8 percent) rise from last year's $34.8 billion. This statistic marks the 15th consecutive quarter that has reported an overall earnings increase. The average return on assets (ROA) also increased to a positive 1.12 percent, up from last year's 1.00 percent and likewise represents the highest quarterly ROA since 2007.

As sellers hold their grip on the market, buyers are starting to understand what it's going to take to stay in the game, according to responses in Redfin's second-quarter Real-Time Home-Buyer Report. It was determined that although buyer frustration concerning the low amount of inventory continues to rise, there is an equal elevation in their individuals awareness and recognition of the seller's market, as well as an overall willingness to actually pay more out of pocket for purchasing real estate.