Despite record low mortgage rates, 2011 has seen a surprisingly high level of cash home purchases, according to the real estate research firm Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. Analysts with the company say between tight lending standards and a desperate search for yield by investors, cash purchases of homes - particularly for distressed properties - are becoming more common. The company's study found 38 percent of homes purchased in 2011 were bought with all cash.

Moody's Analytics' chief economist Mark Zandi has lowered his expectations for the growth of the U.S. economy into 2012. He says GDP will grow 2.6 percent next year and unemployment will likely remain high. Zandi and his colleagues at Moody's expect the U.S. economy to perform a bit better in 2012, but they say the outcome will depend on policy decisions coming out of both Europe and Washington.

Home prices are expected to post a decline of 1.57 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011, after falling 0.4 percent through September, according to more than 100 economists and housing experts surveyed by Zillow. Prices are forecast to decline until the market's bottom is reached in late 2012 or early 2013. After 2013, panelists expect a steady annual appreciation rate of roughly 3 percent through 2016, which is slightly below appreciation rates experienced during the pre-bubble years.

Unemployment and other economic difficulties have caused millions of homeowners to involuntarily default on their mortgages, but there are some borrowers who are induced to simply stop making payments because their property value has fallen and they owe more than their home is worth. According to a study commissioned by the Mortgage Bankers Association, oftentimes strategic defaulters are encouraged to walk away at the behest of so-called mavens, or prominent influencers within their social networks.

Fannie Mae has updated its Selling Guide to reflect the recently announced changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Most of the revisions were previously disclosed in November, but there's one nuance that stands out. Fannie Mae has removed the ""reasonable ability to repay"" clause from the criteria for vetting borrowers for a new HARP loan. Analysts say the subjective ability-to-pay requirement was one of the significant hurdles to HARP refinancing.

Mortgage interest rates continue to head south. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average 30-year fixed-mortgage rate sank to 3.91 percent this week, setting a new all-time record low. Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products also hit new record lows. The 15-year fixed rate settled in to match last week's historic low at 3.21 percent. To put the declines into perspective, Freddie says today's homebuyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000, 30-year fixed-rate loan than they would have just 12 months ago.

The law firm of Kerns, Pearlstine, Onorato & Hladik, LLP, based out of Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, recently announced that attorney and state senator, John Rafferty, who serves as of-counsel with the firm, has officially launched his campaign for the office of Pennsylvania attorney general. In addition, Stephen M. Hladik, chair of the firm's mortgage law department, was recently re-elected to his third term on the North Penn School District Board of Directors, and Valerie Heppel has joined the firm as an associate attorney.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris is asking the court to force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to turn over information about their servicing, foreclosure, property leasing, and mortgage securitization activities in the state. Harris issued subpoenas to each of the GSEs last month, outlining 51 questions the attorney general wanted answered. Fannie and Freddie's regulator, however, has reportedly instructed the companies not to respond to the state's request.

RES.NET, an infrastructure of diverse real estate professionals and supporting software applications, has recently launched a new tool embedded within all RES.NET portals called Connect. Connect enables all parties involved in the sale of a property to connect to each other and track the progress of their real estate transaction, regardless of sale type. This new tool enables the real estate industry to update their communications, and create a similar environment to that which is found in social media sites, the company explained.

The number of distressed properties not currently listed on multiple listing services stood at 1.6 million as of October 2011, according to CoreLogic. This shadow inventory is approximately half of the industry's visible inventory, the company says, meaning for every two homes available for sale, there is one home in the ""shadows."" CoreLogic's latest shadow inventory assessment represents a supply of five months and is down from October 2010, when it stood at 1.9 million units, or 7-months' supply.