The Lone Star State once again boasted signs of strength in housing in February, with single-family home sales ticking up 6 percent in the fourth quarter last year. The Texas Association of Realtors revealed a blend of varying averages for home sales and values in a quarterly housing report it released this week. Citing several sources, the association found home sales lifting by 12 percent in February, with average prices declining 0.7 percent. It said that sales in Houston and Dallas each rose and fell by 1 percent.

The Senate cleared a bill Thursday that bans bonuses for executives with either of the GSEs and requires mortgage disclosures from senior-level government officials. The bill ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô passed by a count of 96 to 3, according to news outlets, and combines an earlier House version with Senate amendments. Except in certain circumstances, under the law, government officials and their spouses will need to disclose report on and disclose information about their mortgage loans. GSE executives will be eligible only for federal pay grades.

Mortgage rates climbed above 4 percent this week, marking a departure from persistently low interest rates for the first time in five months as economic distress lifts stateside and Greece clears hurdles. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent last week but far below last year├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós 4.81 percent. Freddie saw the 15-year loan averaging 3.30 percent, reflecting a climb from 3.16 percent last week, with rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages likewise ticking up.

Economists redrew their expectations for home prices for 2012, slashing forecasts from 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent. Real estate Web site Zillow.com partnered with Pulsenomics LLC to project prices in a Home Price Expectations Survey it released earlier Wednesday. More than 100 economists and real estate experts said in their survey responses, with the more optimistic saying that prices could lift 1.4 percent next year, down from 1.8 percent. Drawing on a Standard & Poor├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós/Case-Shiller Index, Zillow projected that home prices would climb by 1.39 percent next year.

Renewed hope for Europe and the U.S. economy helped interest rates reach their highest peak since December and drove down mortgage applications by 7.4 percent last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association found in a weekly survey that application volume declined by 7.1 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis from the week earlier. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 73.4 percent of total volume, the lowest figure since July last year. The Refinance Index saw declines by 9.3 percent and 4.31 percent for the four-week moving average, respectively.

Good news about the economy and better results in Greece helped reverse declines for still-low mortgage rates for the first time in five months, according to Zillow. The real estate Web site delivered a Mortgage Marketplace report that fielded 3.97 percent for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, up 23 basis points from 3.74 percent last week. The interest rate for a 15-year loan climbed to 3.16 percent, just as rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages hovered near 2.85 percent. Interest rates for mortgage loans stayed near record lows as a result of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

The House Budget Committee unveiled a budget plan for the next fiscal year that proposes raising guarantee fees for the GSEs and dismantling the Dodd-Frank Act. Committee chair Rep. Paul Ryan billed the so-called Path to Prosperity as a measure that will slash $6.2 trillion in government expenditures over the next decade and draw down the deficit by more than $4.4 trillion in contrast with President Barack Obama├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós budget. House Republicans proposed raising guarantee fees, downsizing portfolios for the GSEs, and eventually leaving housing finance to only the Federal Housing Administration.

Refinance activity ticked up for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the fourth quarter, showing an increase in interest for the Home Affordable Refinance Program over last year. The Federal Housing Finance Agency released the results Monday in a Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report for the last quarter. Total HARP refinance volume came to include more than 1,021,800 loans, with a cumulative rise by 10 percent for the GSEs in the fourth quarter. Of these, Fannie Mae netted 376,365 in refinance loans, a measure of 2,045,777 HARP loans it saw last year.

The potential for a lift in mortgage rates is unlikely to spell trouble for the housing recovery, according to a recent report. Paul Diggle, a property economist with Capital Economics, said in a note Monday that still-low home prices will help cushion the blow from interest rates. Mortgage rates continue to linger near record lows, with 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages hovering at or below 4 percent for the past several weeks. Waning confidence in Europe├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós ability to halt the debt crisis in Greece drives investors to U.S. Treasury debt.

Fewer declines in housing permits, strengthening job numbers, and stabilizing home prices helped field improvements in nearly 100 housing markets in March, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The trade group released results to show that 31 metropolitan markets joined the First American Improving Markets Index, canceling departures from the list by 30 others. The total number of improving markets settled at 99. New additions signaled improvements in 33 states, with Texas outpacing other states with 12 entrants.