Pending home sales rose in February, potentially signaling a second surge of sales in response to the looming homebuyer tax credit deadline, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed during the month, jumped 8.2 percent in February to 97.6 from a downwardly-revised 90.2 in January. The index was also 17.3 percent above February 2009 when it was 83.2.

The deadline for servicer implementation of the administration's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program has arrived. HAFA aims to help homeowners who are unable to qualify for a loan modification by providing them with the option to pursue a short sale or deed-in-lieu. To encourage HAFA participation, the Treasury Department raised financial incentives. Borrowers are now eligible for $3,000 in relocation assistance, and servicers will receive $1,500 to cover administrative and processing costs for a short sale or deed-in-lieu completed under the program.

Encore Equities, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Encore Enterprises, Inc., recently appointed Jeremiah Sunden as VP of capital markets. He will be responsible for cultivating Encore's investor network and identifying projects that meet the company's investment criteria.

There are thousands of troubled mortgages in need of modification, but some lawmakers think there is a conflict of interest, in the form of second mortgage ownership, that may be preventing large mortgage companies from voluntarily offering modification services. In hopes of eradicating this issue, two members of the House Financial Services Committee have introduced the Mortgage Servicing Conflict of Interest Elimination Act, which prohibits servicers from owning debt secured by a home that backs a mortgage they already service.

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc., the integrated real estate brokerage franchise and relocation services business of Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial, Inc., and Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, an online real estate marketplace, recently announced an expansion of their business relationship.

The real estate market is looking up in Massachusetts. According to recent reports by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and The Warren Group, the Bay State saw an increase in prices and sales for both single-family homes and condos in February.

The real estate outlook for the remainder of 2010 is grim. According to a recent online survey of real estate executives conducted by Deloitte, 76 percent of executives expect commercial property values to continue to fall this year, and 73 percent predict asking rents will follow the same trend. When the market will recover still remains unknown, but it will undoubtedly take time. This was echoed by survey respondents, with 92 percent predicting that it will be at least two to four years - some say even longer - before we see a full market recovery.

At a briefing of state housing counselors held this week at the HomeFree-USA office in Prince George's County, Maryland, Congressman Steny Hoyer and Raymond Skinner, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development secretary, both expressed their support for HOPE LoanPort, making Maryland the first state in the nation to publicly endorse the program.

The Association of Mortgage Investors recently released a detailed set of guiding principles to Congress and regulators for how to overhaul the beleaguered securitization market in a manner that will ensure private sector demand for mortgages in the future, which the association says is crucial to the recovery of the global economy.

In an announcement Tuesday, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta said it is making up to $11 million in matching funds available through its 2010 First-time Homebuyer Program, which helps spur home sales and supports the housing market. By participating, the bank's members can access up to $1 million annually and distribute matching awards of up to $7,500 per household to eligible homebuyers.