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Even though both home prices and mortgage interest rates have been steadily rising, owning a home remains significantly cheaper than renting at the national level and in most major markets, according to Trulia. While the gap is closing between renting and owning, the company's Summer 2013 Rent vs. Buy Report indicates overall, owning is still 35 percent cheaper than renting.

While many in the industry laud the recent changes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made to the proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rule, one economist says the new proposed rule sets the stage for another housing crisis.

Sen. Mark R. Warner is seeing tremendous momentum toward GSE reform in Congress, he said during a discussion with Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries this week. He also expressed his optimism that the Housing Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013, a bill he helped co-sponsor, actually has a chance of passing.

Existing home sales rose an unexpected 6.5 percent in to an annual sales rate of 5.48 million, the highest level since August 2007 ten months before the onset of the Great Recession -- the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected existing home sales to drop to 5.

Following a sharp drop in first time claims for unemployment insurance a week earlier, initial filings rose 15,000 for the week ended September 14 to 309,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the number of claims to jump 49,000 to 341,000, from the 292,000 originally reported for the week ended September 7.

In Fort Worth, Axios Valuation Solutions now offers a Regulatory Review Program in its suite of services. Regulatory Reviews are designed to meet requirements outlined in the Texas Administrative Code

While noting improvement in economic activity and labor market conditions, the Federal Open Market Committee voted Wednesday to continue its policy of near-zero interest rates and its $85-billion-per-month bond-buying program. At the same time, the Fed’s own economic projections suggested the economy might not grow this year as fast as it expected just three months ago.

Led by the strongest gain for single-family construction this, year, the pace of housing starts edged up 0.9 percent in August, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday. Total housing permits though declined 4.8 percent despite a surge in filings for single-family homes.

Cityside Management Corporation opened its doors in Manchester, New Hampshire, back in 1998 with a single government contract in hand to manage housing units in five New York boroughs. Since then, it has developed into a large-scale, single-source real estate portfolio management services company that serves major markets coast-to-coast with five field offices throughout the United States.

While Rep. Jeb Hensarling's (R-Texas) Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act seems to be gathering little momentum, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) announced her intention to create an alternative bill regarding the future of the housing finance system and the government's role in it.