In the nation’s largest cities, a median income is not sufficient to purchase a median-priced home. In fact, even households with two median incomes cannot afford median-priced homes in the 40 largest cities in the United States, according to a Redfin survey released last week. Redfin’s findings concur with data from Zillow revealing median-income earners in Southern California cannot afford more than half of homes for sale in their market.

Home prices increased over the month and year in February in the majority of the 42 counties reviewed in DataQuick’s latest Property Intelligence Report. Home sales increased in the majority of the large counties over the month but not over the year, according to DataQuick. “While we saw a slight uptick from the extremely low sales levels reported in January, total sales remain far below historical levels,” said Gordon Crawford, VP of analytics at DataQuick.

Freddie Mac released Wednesday its first Multi-Indicator Market Index, a gauge of market stability based on current levels of purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, on-time mortgage payments, and employment. Based on a neutral, stable "0" point, the market in January sat at a score of -3.08, according to the index. However, that's still an improvement compared to the prior month and year.

Home prices are rising; inventory is stabilizing; and the number of properties listed for sale is increasing, according to the latest data from Florida Realtors. “The majority of results for the residential market paint a picture of a normal growing market,” said John Tuccillo, chief economist for the group.

Following a slowdown in activity over the previous two quarters, Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group expects economic activity to pick up in the second quarter of this year, bolstered by increases in the housing sector, consumer spending, and business investment. The housing market is expected to show a relatively strong performance, with housing starts increasing almost 20 percent to 1.1 million over the year.

Home sales declined for the fourth consecutive month with sharp drops in West Coast markets, according to the latest Real-Time Price Tracker from Redfin, a national real estate brokerage. With the spring selling season about to get underway, the company says March and April should offer insight into buyers’ willingness and ability to adapt to higher costs—as well as sellers’ ability to price appropriately, a skill some are having to relearn to stay competitive.

The “boom-and-bust” markets, which led the nation in pre- and post-crisis home price trends, are now at the forefront of a new price trend—a deceleration in home price gains across the nation, according to Trulia. The national real estate company released its Price and Rent Monitors last week, revealing trends in asking prices across the country.

Nationwide, the economy and housing market are functioning at a level about 87 percent of their pre-crisis normal levels, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American’s Leading Markets Index. Fifty-nine of the 350 metro markets are at or above their pre-crisis norms, according to the index, up from 58 metros last month. At the same time, 130 markets are at least 90 percent of their pre-crisis levels, according to NAHB.

Three special servicers—Nationstar, Ocwen, and Walter Investment Corp.—released their fourth-quarter and year-end earnings reports with revenue increases and increasingly active originations sectors. At least one group of analysts suggests special servicers might “become the next generation of non-prime originators,” according to a report earlier this year from Moody’s.

FDIC-insured institutions earned a net income of $154.7 billion over the year in 2013, a 9.6 percent increase over the previous year, according to a report released by the agency. “[T]he industry continues to experience difficulty growing revenue,” said FDIC chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. He listed “[n]arrow margins, modest loan growth, and a decline in mortgage refinancing activity” as hindrances to revenue growth.