The New York Times recently reported a $10 billion settlement is in the works between federal regulators and 14 banks. In April 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) announced enforcement actions against the 14 banks after investigations led to allegations of abusive foreclosure practices.

Struggling homeowners who are considering a short sale or modification will be eligible for tax relief in 2013. The ""fiscal cliff bill"" passed by Congress on January 1 included a provision to exclude borrowers from paying taxes on debt forgiven through a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification. Known as the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, the act was scheduled to expire December 31, 2012, but received an extension for another year.

Home prices will increase by 3.1 percent in 2013 and top off 2012 with a 4.6 percent gain, according Zillow's December Home Price Expectations Survey. The survey, which was conducted by Pulsenomics LLC, was based on responses from 105 economists and industry experts. In September, survey panelists projected more modest gains and predicted prices would rise by 2.4 percent in 2013 and increase overall by 2.3 percent in 2012. Through 2017, panelists expect prices to increase by more than 3 percent annually.

As of October 2012, 2.3 million housing units still remain in shadow inventory, CoreLogic reported Wednesday. The total translates into a supply of 7 months and sits 12.3 percent lower than the 2.6 million units in October 2011, according to the data provider. In dollar terms, shadow inventory stood at $376 billion, down from $399 billion in October 2011. Seriously delinquent properties were the main contributors to shadow inventory and numbered 1.04 million units out of the 2.3 million.

Tailwinds should continue for specialty servicers in 2013, according to a report from FBR. As large, traditional servicers become unwilling to service certain asset that require more attention, FBR says it believes about $600 billion to $700 billion in ""high-touch, credit sensitive assets"" will eventually make their way into the specialty servicing and sub-servicing sectors.

The housing market remains under pressure in the near term, with shadow inventory, in particular, posing a risk to the housing recovery, according to a report from DBRS. According to estimates, the report revealed about 2.3 million homes still remain in the shadows as of July 2012, and another 2.5 million homes are in existing and new home inventory, or visible inventory. ""Once unleashed, the number of shadow properties will undoubtedly boost supply and distress the local markets that were just beginning to recuperate,"" the report stated.

TransUnion forecasts a decline in mortgage delinquency rates for 2013, but the rate is expected to stay above 5 percent. The credit bureau expects the mortgage delinquency rate to drop to 5.06 percent by the end of 2013 from an estimated 5.32 percent at the end of this year. At its peak, the mortgage delinquency rate reached 6.89 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. If the rate does drop to 5.06 in 2013 as TransUnion predicts, the decrease would only be a 27 decline from the peak and still remain above normal levels, which the credit bureau says ranges from 1.5 to 2 percent.

After five years of cumulative losses, home values will finally post their first annual gain, according to data from Zillow. The calculations show homes are expected to gain $1.3 trillion in cumulative value for 2012, the largest gain since 2005 and the first annual increase since 2006, Zillow reported. In 2006, homes increased their value by $483 billion, but then declined from 2007 to 2011, with the largest drop in 2008, when homes lost more than $3.2 trillion in value, according to Zillow.

In the third quarter of this year, the overall percentage of mortgages that managed to stay current improved from last year, but declined slightly quarter-over-quarter, according to a report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The report also found foreclosure activity ""remains elevated,"" but fewer properties entered the foreclosure process. In Q3, more home retention actions were also applied compared with home forfeiture actions (foreclosure sales, short sales, and deeds-in-lieu).

After tracking home price trends in 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), Radar Logic found prices in October are now 6.9 percent higher than a year ago, according to the company's RPX Composite price. ""However, this increase was driven by a change in the composition of sales rather than price appreciation,"" Radar Logic stated in a recent report. Upon closer scrutiny, the analytics company explained the price increase is mainly the result of a decrease in distressed sales, or ""motivated sales,"" and the actual price increase for ""non-motivated sales"" is much smaller than the overall yearly gain.