February home prices rose 10.2 % from a year ago and the most in seven years, says CoreLogic.  The steepest price rises were in Nevada (19.3%), Arizona (18.6%), California (15.3%), Hawaii (14.6%) and Idaho (13.5%).  The states in which home prices dropped are Delaware(4.4%), Alabama (1.5%) and Illinois (1%).  --kpanchuck@housingwire.com
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Sarah Butcher with eFinancialCareers has an interesting article in which she reports that a slew of young women in their 20s ( in Europe) are now considering entry into investment banking. --kpanchuck@housingwire.com
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TBWSDailyShow: 
In 2007 Fannie and Freddie defaulted.  Then we got Dodd-Frank, CFPB and the g-fees.  The g-fee is a tax on mortgage borrowers and will not pay anything toward the debt that Fannie and Freddie owe the treasury department.  It is merely another tax on the citizens.  It is set to expire in 10 yrs, but have you ever seen Congress rescind a tax?  Congress wants to scrap Fannie and Freddie because of the four years when they had all sorts of trouble; only four years of the 75 Fannie Mae has been in business.  Fannie Mae just reported $7.6 billion in 2012 4th quarter earnings which is the single most profitable quarter in the entire history of the GSE.  They have also paid back $35.6 billion dollars in dividends to the US treasury.  However, the treasury decided to take all of Fannie's profits and apply it to the interest of the loan instead of the principle of $116 billion.  Without Fannie and Freddie, there would be far fewer homeowners.  Do we really want Congress to scrap the GSE's?  Since the GSE's are now making a profit, should we really get rid of them?  Does Congress have a problem with profit?   
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The price of materials for the building industry continues to rise dramatically.  I am not sure the reason, but I can guess that it is the price of gasoline and the flood of new regulations.
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90% of Millennials still plan to own a home what with rising rents and low interest rates. 
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TBWSDailyShow:
New NCNANINCNP Refi Program-No Credit No Asset No Income No Collateral No Payment refinance program.  If you have had your loan for at least 12 months, and have a greater than 80% loan to value, and if  you quit making payments for 90 days up to 2 yrs, you automatically qualify for this program, no documentation needed.  The only thing you need to qualify is to not make your payment.  This is coming from FHFA.  Your loan rate goes down to the prevailing rate or to the present rate, which ever is lower and your loan is put on a 40 yr fixed mortgage.  No cost, no documentation.  If  you happen to be upside down you will pay no interest on a portion of your loan up to 30%.  This is the GREAT MORTGAGE COMPROMISE OF 2013.
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The Fed is still buying bonds, including mortgage bonds, at the rate of $85 billion/month.
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Did you know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac originate most of the new mortgages in the country and control over half of all mortgage debt?  This means we may have the GSE's for a long, long time.
--kpanchuck@housingwire.com
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Almost four million single family homes have become rentals in the last eight years.  Because of the over abundance, rents have leveled out.  It is possible that your local rents are higher than mortgage payments.  Renters will now have more negotiating power in some parts of the country.  Check to see where your housing industry is in the mix. 
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The US employment participation is now at 1979 levels.  That's low!
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The CFPB reached a deal requiring four mortgage companies to pay a total of $15 million in penalties for allegedly paying kickbacks to lenders in exchange for business.  The CFPB cited the following firms: Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. ($9.49 0%), United Guaranty Corp., Radian Guaranty Inc. ($10.22 0%) and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp ($4.87 0%).
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TBWSDailyShow has changed its name to National Real Estate Post, so I too must make the change:
Head line in the Washington Post says, "Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit"   Right now Freddie Mac's average allowed credit score is 740.  The administration wants to bring that down to 625.  The problem with this is that all the rules and regulations that put banks in a squeeze the last go round are still in place.  If the mortgage with the lower credit score fails, the bank is harshly punished for it.  The only way the lending companies will consent to this push is for the authorities to put something in writing, in stone, to promise there will be no retaliation for loans written at this low credit score point if they default. 
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jpierce@realestateauctions.com