Certain states are seeing above average gains in home prices, but concerns have been raised that some states are seeing ""unsustainable, investor-fueled"" increases, Capital Economics pointed out in a recent report. In response to those uncertainties, the research firm conducted an analysis of seven states plus the District of Columbia to see if price gains are merely investor led or truly sustainable. Out of the 8 places covered, the firm concluded five states appear to be sustainable based on factors such as income and employment growth.

Median home prices in January continued to stay above year ago levels while falling month-over-month, according to a recent report from RE/MAX. At the same time, inventory remained low, causing a shortage in supply while pushing up home prices, RE/MAX explained. At $155,000, the median sales price in January sat 6.6 percent below December’s sales price, but was still 8 percent higher compared to January 2012. Inventory trended downward month-over-month for 31 consecutive months in January after falling 5.1 percent from December.

In his written testimony before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan spoke on the potential impact to households across the nation if across-the-board automatic spending cuts were to take effect. The cuts are scheduled for March 1. Speaking from HUD's perspective, Donovan says the cuts, also referred to as the sequester, would be especially damaging on middle class families, communities, and the economy across the nation. More specifically, he warned the cuts would keep 75,000 households from receiving foreclosure prevention, pre-purchase, rental, or other counseling though HUD housing counseling grants.

Housing may not be where it used to be, but on the upside, Freddie Mac suggested this indicates there's still plenty of room for the industry to grow. ""[T]he level of housing activity is still near historic lows. This means that there is still room for substantial growth in housing and housing-related industries before we return to a more normal environment,"" Freddie Mac stated in its latest economic and housing outlook. This optimistic viewpoint was reflected in the GSE's forecast for housing in 2013, especially for housing starts.

LOGS Network welcomed a California law firm to its nationwide network. The new firm, Roberts & Shapiro, LLP, was formed from a partnership agreement between Keefe Roberts & Associates and Shapiro & Kreisman, LLC. The firm will handle default-related matters throughout the state of California.

In a recent blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, three Fed researchers shared their findings on mortgages that would have been targeted by a controversial use of eminent domain proposed in San Bernardino County. Although the researchers found only 11 percent of the open loans in the county were not underwater, they also reported a dramatic decrease in payments and an increase in home values.

Foreclosure activity slowed in January with an especially notable drop in foreclosure starts, which hit a 79-month low, according to a recent foreclosure report from RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings--default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions--were down monthly and yearly by 7 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Data from RealtyTrac also revealed a steep drop in foreclosure starts as starts fell 11 percent from the December and 28 percent from January 2012. Foreclosure starts are now at the lowest level since June 2006.

American InfoSource LP (AIS) announced the hiring Alice Whitten as general counsel at Ascension Capital Group (ACG). ACG is part of the AIS family of financial services companies. At ACG, Whitten will lead a legal department that includes an extensive team of legal bankruptcy specialists.

In a speech before the Women in Housing and Finance, Comptroller of the of the Currency Thomas J. Curry addressed critics of the recent $9.3 billion foreclosure deal. The foreclosure settlement officially ended what was known as the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) and replaced the review with a new approach that is said to compensate borrowers much more quickly. Although the new approach means borrowers will start seeing compensation in the next month or so, Curry admitted the approach is still ""not without critics."" In his speech, he addressed two main concerns.

Altisource Portfolio Solutions announced it is purchasing certain fee-based businesses from Ocwen Financial for a combined purchase price of $218.6 million. According to a company release, Altisource entered into non-binding letters of intent with Ocwen to acquire certain fee-based businesses related to the servicer's recent purchase of Homeward Residential and the anticipated purchase of the mortgage servicing platform from Residential Capital.