LRES, a national provider of residential and commercial valuations and asset management for the mortgage, banking, credit union and real estate industries, announced Selene Nunez has been named VP of valuations. Nunez is a 14-year veteran at LRES.

Despite some recent kickback from Senate Democrats, the Johnson-Crapo reform bill that plans to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac passed the Senate Banking Committee by a bipartisan vote of 13-9. The legislation is an agreement between Chairman Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) "designed to stabilize the housing finance market and strengthen the American economy," the committee said in a press release.

For the majority of homes, buying is cheaper than renting. But as home prices rise faster than incomes and mortgage rates slowly head upwards, the question of national affordability becomes ever more germane. Compared to the longer-term past, homeownership still looks relatively affordable as home prices remain undervalued and mortgage rates remain near historic lows. However, affordability for the middle class in some areas of the nation is becoming problematic.

Metrostudy released a study of the first quarter of 2014 for the Houston housing market, which found that housing continued to surge in Q1, with prices rising for both new and resale homes. New home construction was started on roughly 7,100 homes, representing the fastest pace since the third quarter of last year.

Collateral Analytics, a provider of comprehensive automated valuation solutions and real estate analytic products for the financial services and real estate industry, recently announced that it has joined Real Estate Data Protection Legal Association (REDPLAN).

RealtyTrac's latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for April 2014, revealed foreclosure filings were down 1 percent from March, totaling approximately 115,000. April's figure reflects a year-over-year decrease of 20 percent.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has been busy. After a recent Mel Watt speech as well as a plan for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government agency released its Foreclosure Prevention Report for February 2014. The report contains data regarding the foreclosure prevention activity of the GSEs as of the end of February.

Bob Hoose, partner from the Law Offices of John D. Clunk, was sworn-in as a member of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) by President Susan Stevenson. As a newly sworn-in member of the Ohio MBA, Hoose "is committed to speed up the foreclosure process in the State of Ohio," the company said in a release.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its strategic plan for the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In its report, the FHFA focused on three tenets going forward for the GSEs: maintain foreclosure prevention activities, reduce taxpayer risk, and build a new, single-family securitization infrastructure.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued its "Blueprint for Access," which aims to expand credit access for underserved borrowers by utilizing housing counseling as a means to reduce the possibility of loans becoming seriously delinquent. The announcement highlights a new pilot program, Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK), which incorporates housing counseling into the home buying process.