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Sales are 4.7 percent higher than a year ago and above year-over-year totals for the fifth consecutive month. The median existing home price for all housing types in February was $202, 600. That is 7.5 percent above the February 2014 price. This marks the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains since last year.

The temporary factors that slowed economic growth include a drawdown in inventory, unusually high snowfall in some parts of the country, and the West Coast port slowdown. Fannie Mae expects the reducing of those factors in the second quarter combined with upbeat labor market conditions and positive consumer and business fundamentals to push GDP growth to 2.8 percent in 2015, ahead of 2014's pace of 2.4 percent.

Florida and the Midwest have some markets with more than a quarter of mortgaged homes underwater. Home values rose 5.9 percent nationally last year, making low-end homes far more likely to be worth less than the balance of their mortgage. While the percentage of mortgages that are in negative equity nationally is at 16.9 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2014, the negative equity rate among low end homes is much higher at 27.3 percent. The national negative equity rate is expected to fall to 15.4 percent by the end of 2015.

In January, a group of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) investors including BlackRock Financial Management Inc., Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, Kore Advisors, and Metropolitan Life Insurance issued a notice on Ocwen’s alleged non-performance. Ocwen claims the notice is a part of a long campaign by the RMBS investors to force more home foreclosures and less loan modifications.

The White House joined Warren in its criticism, saying that putting the bureau under the appropriation of Congress would limit the agency. The administration also criticized the Republicans budget proposal's "creative-accounting savings" that shift funding for the agency to appropriations.

Lennar opened its first community of single-family rental homes this month in Sparks, Nevada, and has a construction pipeline of 20,000 apartments exceeding $5.5 billion, the Miami-based company said today. After reporting a better-than-expected net income, it seems Lennar's decision may be paying off.

The DOJ filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed in May 2014, and Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accepted the motion, claiming the plaintiff did not have sufficient grounds to sue the Justice Department.

Rep. John K. Delaney (Maryland), Rep. John Carney (Delaware), and Rep. Congressman Jim Himes (Connecticut) said the bill would wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and allows the GSEs to be sold and recapitalized. The congressmen said protecting the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is key because it ensures “home affordability for the middle class and shields American taxpayers from future bailouts by reforming the housing finance system.”

Mortgage refinance rates climbed another 8 percent in February to 59 percent, making it the highest it has been since May 2013. According to Ellie Mae’s Origination Report released Wednesday that number is almost doubled the rate seen six months ago in August 2014 and 16 percentage points higher than the year-over-year figure of 38.

HVF research on the impact of lower oil prices on home values found that in areas where the industries are diversified beyond oil and gas, home prices have remained stable. Authors of this research analyzed Houston’s home prices versus crude oil prices over the last forty years and found with the exception of the 1980s, Houston home prices have been steadily increasing due to diversity in the region.