The Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act of 2012, introduced this month by Sens. Robert Menendez and Barbara Boxer, received backing from witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. The bill aims to address what the senators say are barriers impeding the success of the recently revised Home Affordable Refinance Program, commonly referred to as HARP 2.0. The bill aims to eliminate all upfront fees and appraisal costs for refinances, prohibit second-lien holders from unreasonably hindering refinances, and more.

Things are looking up in California. Pending-home sales are continuing to rise on an annual basis; median prices are rising; and equity sales are starting to make up a larger portion of total sales, according to the California Association of Realtors. However, despite the year-over-year gains, April's pending home sales demonstrated a decline from March. Pending-home sales include contract signings but not closings. The index is based on 2008 contract signings with an index score of 100 equaling the average amount of contracts signed per month in 2008. The pending-home sales index for March was revised to 138.9.

Continuing a four-month trend ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô one that has also prevailed in nine of the past 10 consecutive months ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose year-over-year in April, according to The Warren Group, a New England real estate analytics firm. However, single-family home prices reversed a seven-month downward drift, rising 1.1 percent. The median sales price for single-family homes in Massachusetts now stands at $275,000. On the other hand, the year-to-date median price is $264,900, which is 1 percent lower than the year-to-date price in April of last year, according to The Warren Group.

In its latest monthly report released Monday, Capital Economics painted a positive picture of the housing market, insisting the market has moved from bottoming-out to recovering. To those wondering whether Capital Economics' positive prophesies are merely a mirage soon to be dispersed much like the short-lived positive movement the market experienced in 2009 and 2010, the analytics firm pointed out a substantial difference between what occurred in 2009-2010 and what is occurring today.

The Southern California housing market continues to inch slowly toward recovery with a 5.1 percent increase in home sales year-over-year in April and the first year-over-year price increase reported in 16 months, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based analytics firm. However, the market still relies heavily on investors as credit remains tight. Previously common mortgage loan products continue to make up a much smaller percentage of the market than they did over the last several years, according to DataQuick.

Uncertainty is the greatest hindrance to the housing recovery today, according to Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth A. Duke, who speak before the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday. Duke called on policymakers to "move forward with the difficult decisions that will affect the future of the mortgage market," deeming this the "most important solution" to today├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós struggling market. While the economy and the housing market are beginning to see some signs of ripening, Duke pointed out that lending remains tight.

Home sales in Connecticut rose on an annual basis in March for the third month in a row, according to data released Wednesday by The Warren Group. The same report revealed that single-family home sales in Connecticut rose on a quarterly basis for the first time since the second quarter of 2010. Single-family home sales rose more than 5 percent in the first quarter of this year to 4,157 from 3,950 in the same quarter last year. Conversely, median prices declined 6.5 percent over the first quarter of the year in Connecticut, slipping from $230,000 in the first quarter of last year to $215,000.

Noting some recent strengthening in demand in the housing market, Capital Economics suggests housing prices "are close to, or already through, their trough," and recovery will continue through the coming months. While acknowledging the decline in home sales in March, Capital Economics├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó analysts remain optimistic due to the recent increases in pending home sales. The National Association of Realtors' latest Pending Home Sales Index in March reached 101.4, its highest level since April 2010. Recent data on mortgage applications also point toward a strengthening market.

Home prices declined by 0.6 percent on an annual basis in March, according to CoreLogic's latest Home Price Index, released Tuesday. However, when distressed sales ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô foreclosure sales and short sales ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô are taken out of the equation, the nation actually experienced a rise in home sales from March 2011 to March 2012 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô an increase of 0.9 percent. Also notable: Overall home prices ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô including distressed sales ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô rose on a monthly basis in March for the first time since July 2011. Accounting for all transactions, prices are now 33.7 percent below their April 2006 peak.

MGIC, the nation's largest private mortgage insurer, released its monthly earnings report Tuesday, revealing $1.7 billion in new insurance written during the month of April. This comes after last month's announcement that in the first quarter of this year, MGIC wrote $4.2 billion in new insurance. MGIC is still suffering from elevated delinquencies, though they did fall slightly over the month from 160,473 delinquent loans to 156,698 delinquencies recorded at the end of the month. While 9,717 delinquent loans were cured during the month of April, 10,134 loans received new notices of delinquency.