Zillow’s Q1 Real Estate Market Report, released Tuesday, shows that home values across the United States are up 5.7 percent (to a national median of $169,800) compared to Q1 2013. Even more encouraging is that home values in 527 U.S. cities that saw declines of 10 percent or more during the recession are either at their peak or soon will be.

After a steep plunge in the amount of housing finance aid given to banks, federal money poured into the country’s largest lenders in 2012 and 2013, as liquidity at the banks found stable ground, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

On Monday, Pro Teck released its March Home Value Forecast, which ranks the hottest and coolest metro markets in the country. California claimed nine of the top 10 slots (Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York, was the other), while Florida claimed seven of the bottom 10 areas for home value appreciation.

As the housing market inches further toward recovery, a curious dichotomy has arisen between urban and suburban growth. Asking prices for homes in densely populated (i.e., high-rise-rich) and urban settings are still rising as the spring buying market catches its stride. It’s the suburbs, however, where population is growing most.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) released the results of its latest annual Real Estate Lending Survey, which clearly show signs of caution among loan officers. According to the ABA, more than 80 percent of bankers surveyed believe that tightened Dodd-Frank rules will restrict credit, thereby narrowing the pool of candidates able to secure mortgages.

For the second straight year, Washington, D.C., is the place lenders are most likely to encounter mortgage fraud, according to the annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report released by Interthinx. This continues the rising trend in fraud risk observed over the past three years as inventories shrink, prices rise, and markets stabilize.

A look into 35 major markets by Zillow reveals that buyers making the median income in Southern California, the Bay Area, Portland (Oregon), Denver, and Miami face markets where more than half the available homes are beyond their price range—which could mean the beginning of a new housing bubble.

According to the UCLA Anderson Forecast, the one-two punch of harsh winter weather in the East and a nagging drought in the West (namely California) stalled industries from real estate to factory production, putting a tight chokehold on the national economy.

For the first time ever, Fannie Mae has named a five STAR winner. On Wednesday, Fannie named Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank its sole Five STAR designee for the bank's achievements as a mortgage service provider throughout 2013.

Recovery in the housing market is stumbling back to solid ground, thanks to a rise in home prices and existing home sales, as well as a drop in foreclosures, according to the latest Housing Barometer report released Wednesday by Trulia.