There were many who opposed the hefty bank bailouts after the financial crisis set in, and they still have their ethical argument against the government's decision, but the fiscal argument is growing faint. Treasury announced this week that over 99 percent of the funds disbursed to banks through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) have now been recovered. Even the largest bailout of all - that of Fannie and Freddie - is expected to shrink by nearly half over the next 10 years.

Mortgage interest rates fell dramatically this week, dipping to a two-month low in one industry study and a three-month low in a separate market survey, as natural disasters devastated the East Asia island nation of Japan, the world's third largest economy. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, explained that with the crisis in Japan, investors rushed to buy the security of U.S. Treasury bonds, which allowed fixed mortgage rates to drift lower.

Trepp, LLC, a provider of research and analytics for the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market, announced Thursday that it has acquired Investcap Advisors, LLC. Investcap, a privately held company in Massachusetts, develops Web-based applications for U.S. CMBS loan and property surveillance. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pull the plug on HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and rescind $1 billion in grant money that has not yet been awarded. The NSP Termination Act (H.R. 861) passed the House with a 242-182 vote. It now moves to the Senate, where it is not expected to be met with such favor. White House officials again indicated that President Obama will veto the bill should it make it that far.

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) has teamed up with Fannie Mae to provide its brokers and agents with a service designed to shorten the time they have to wait for approval from the GSE on short sale transactions. MRED provides property listing services in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwest Indiana. This week, the company announced the availability of the Fannie Mae Short Sale Assistance Desk for its coverage area. The tool has already been employed by MLSs in Florida and Nevada, and agents there are seeing the benefits.

The Wolf Firm, a provider of legal services throughout California to residential and commercial lenders, servicers, investors, and insurers, has added two associate attorneys to its team Patrick K. Bruso and Aalia Sonawalla. The Wolf Firm employs over 50 staff members from its two California offices in Irvine and Sacramento, and is is Fannie Mae designated counsel for California.

With bank-owned inventories expanding rapidly, even government agencies are looking for new ways to quickly get foreclosed properties back into the hands of responsible homeowners. For the first time in recent years, HUD is planning to sell over 150 foreclosed homes through auction. The auction will take place March 26th at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, and will be conducted by the real estate auction firm Hudson & Marshall.

The nation's economic recovery is on ""firmer footing"" with conditions in the labor market ""improving gradually,"" the Federal Reserve said Tuesday following its monetary policy meeting. The Fed's view of the economy was noticeably more upbeat, but that optimism stopped short when the discussion turned to housing. With property values still sliding, a ballooning foreclosure pipeline, and a shadow inventory of distressed REOs that experts say could take more than three years to clear, the Fed stated bluntly, ""the housing sector continues to be depressed.""

After 13 years of service, Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist, has left the company to join IXI Corporation, a small subsidiary of Equifax that provides services to financial institutions and consumer marketing firms to help them target consumer households based on measures of wealth, income, spending, and credit.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced Tuesday that John A. Courson, the organization's president and CEO, will be leaving the association, effective June 1, 2011. Courson will be replaced by David H. Stevens, the current commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Stevens announced last week that he would be resigning from his position at FHA. His departure from the federal agency is set for March 31. According to MBA, he will join the trade group in May.