Following weak home sales during the first two months of the year resulting from extreme winter weather, March sales picked up 24.6 percent across the 52 metros measured in the RE/MAX National Housing Report. However, despite the significant increase, March sales are 10.1 percent below their year-ago level.

Since 1998, second-home mortgages have averaged about 4.76 percent of the total purchase market, but the share is rising, according to Fannie Mae. While the purchase market increased four-fold from 1998 through the bubble years, the second-home mortgage market multiplied by 15 over the same years.

Housing markets in half of all states and 35 of the top 50 metros are improving, according to a new report from Freddie Mac. However, only 11 states and four of the top 50 metros are "stable" compared to each market’s individual historical norms, Freddie Mac reported.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group expects economic growth in the first quarter to come in around 2.0 percent, but thereafter, the economy should pick up. Economic growth for the year is expected at 2.7 percent, according to the research group.

Three nonprofit consumer groups filed suit against California Governor Jerry Brown at the end of last week, alleging the governor misdirected funds from the landmark $25 billion national servicing settlement with the nation’s largest banks.

"The combination of steep price appreciation and rising mortgage rates is likely coming as a shock to many prospective buyers," Redfin stated in its latest Real-Time Price Tracker. Home sales declined 10.3 percent across the country year-over-year in February, falling for the fourth straight month with sharp drops in West Coast markets.

A report released this week by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American’s Leading Markets Index showed that the economy and housing market are functioning at a level about 87 percent of their pre-crisis normal levels. The report measures metro markets based on housing permits, home prices, and employment.

Three special servicers released their fourth quarter and year-end numbers, noting increases in revenue and increasingly active originations sectors. However, analysts remain concerned that the increased revenue, largely derived from government programs such as HARP, will stall as refinances slow down.

Foreclosure inventory in January was down by one-third over the year, although completed foreclosures ticked up over the month, according to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report released Thursday. Demonstrating an 11.8 percent increase over the month, completed foreclosures totaled 48,000 in January.

Home prices rose 7.7 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, while prices for other goods and services ticked up 0.7 percent, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index, which calculates home prices among mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A total of 38 states reported rising prices in the fourth quarter of the year, a significant showing but fewer than the 48 from the previous quarter, according to the FHFA.