The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of previously owned homes rose 3.7 percent last month, following the 9.6 drop recorded in February. The results were slightly better than forecast, but reaction was mixed after the release of the report. One economist says sales have now stabilized at a level no higher than that seen during the recession, and with so many forced foreclosed sales, a recovery is not even on the horizon. But another points out that it's distressed properties that are helping to elevate sales activity as investors line up for a bargain.

Wells Fargo reported record earnings of $3.8 billion for the first quarter of 2010. That's up 48 percent from the same period last year, and up 10 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. The lender's first-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates, but the market didn't look too kindly on the underlying numbers that showed revenue was down $1.2 billion from the previous quarter. That decline included a $741 million drop in mortgage banking fee income. While revenue slipped, Wells Fargo says its numbers were boosted by improving loan quality.

State attorneys general have not only lost the collaboration of federal regulators in their effort to craft a universal settlement with servicers to resolve issues exposed by recent robo-signing investigations, but individual counsels are falling from their own ranks. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is reportedly breaking from the group to pursue his own agreement with mortgage servicers that specifically addresses his state's concerns.

Prices on commercial real estate have slipped for three consecutive months and are now dangerously close to double-dip territory due to the large share of distressed transactions recently, according to Moody's Investors Service. The agency reported Wednesday that its index of commercial property prices fell another 3.3 percent in February. The index is down 4.9 percent from 12 months earlier and only 0.8 percent above its post-peak low set in August 2010. Approximately 29 percent of the transactions tracked in February were distressed.

Real estate executive John T. Price has been named director of operations for HouseSavvy, a national online real estate resource that offers advice from industry experts to educate homebuyers, as well as sellers, about what to expect and how to prepare for transacting in today's real estate market. In this role, Price will work with HouseSavvy CEO Joe Benevides to expand the no-cost services of the online site to the national level.

Distressed homes - typically REOs and short sales - accounted for 40 percent of the existing homes sold in March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. The trade group notes that these properties generally sell at discounts in the vicinity of 20 percent. Their large market share served to dampen the median existing-home price. For all housing types, it came in at $159,600 in March, down 5.9 percent from March 2010. Overall, sales of previously owned homes rose 3.7 percent last month as the spring buying season began to take hold.

Rep. Bill Posey (R-Florida) has introduced legislation to support the sale of REO homes. His bill, The Housing Recovery Act of 2011, would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt retirement plan distributions from early withdrawal penalties as long as the money is being used to purchase a residence that has been in foreclosure for a year or more.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) reports that the nation's mortgage delinquency rate plunged to 7.78 percent at the end of March. That figure includes loans that are at least 30 days past due but not yet in foreclosure. March's delinquency rate is down nearly 12 percent from the month before and 20 percent below a year ago. At the same time, though, the nation's foreclosure rate edged up to 4.21 percent. Altogether, LPS says there are 6,333,000 homes in the U.S. that are delinquent or in foreclosure.

An appellate court has given judges of the foreclosure court system in Lee County, Florida, 20 days to respond to a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which alleges the county circuit courts ignore procedural safeguards in order to rush foreclosures through and clear out their backlog of cases. The ACLU says this special ""mass foreclosure docket"" in Lee County sees as many as 200 cases a day, a pace that ""systematically denies homeowners an opportunity to defend their homes against foreclosure.""

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has mailed 1,410 refund checks totaling $2.3 million to consumers allegedly defrauded by Home Assure LLC, a so-called mortgage foreclosure rescue service. The FTC alleged that the company charged consumers an up-front fee of $1,500 to $2,500, and falsely claimed its ""special"" relationships with lenders would enable the company to secure favorable loan modifications or stop foreclosure altogether - promises the federal agency says the company did not keep.