Freddie Mac released its latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook, expecting home sales to grow along with wages this year, despite a still-tough job market in most sectors. Freddie is projecting a 3 percent rise in home sales and a 20 percent rise in new home construction in 2014, which the agency expects to level out to a 5 percent overall growth.

According to the latest market analysis report released Thursday by Zillow, whether a buyer or a seller has the upper hand in home sales this spring will depend largely on which part of the country their deal takes place.

A lawsuit filed last week in a New York federal court alleges that Wells Fargo, the nation's top mortgage provider, created a detailed, step-by-step internal manual on how to retro-sign foreclosure documents originated by other lenders.

The housing market’s cooler-than-expected first quarter should just be a temporary blip in a year of modest overall growth, according to Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae’s latest economic forecast notes harsh weather stunted new home construction in Q1 2014, but the report also reaffirms Fannie Mae's position that the economy and housing markets will improve on 2013 growth by the end of Q4.

For Richard Corday, the equation is simple: In the Land of the Free and the home of the free market, American citizens should be as informed about and capable of self-governance in their personal finances as they are in the democratic process, especially when it comes to borrowing for a mortgage.

Chief economist at CoreLogic, Mark Fleming, notes new factors affecting a homeowners ability to buy a home. The ability for a prospective buyer to purchase a home depends greatly on whether the buyer already owns a home, a report released Thursday notes. The market is being affected by the intersection of rising home prices, rising interest rates and stagnating incomes, which puts first-time buyers behind the curve that has benefitted them greatly since 2007.

Experts at Freddie Mac and Equifax expect falling unemployment and economic growth to keep the housing market steady in 2014. This, despite climbing interest rates and anticipated growth in housing prices nationwide. While industry economists welcome the idea of a steady, slowly recovering housing market, they also have a checklist of housing and economic indicators they're keeping tabs on that could influence the pace of recovery.

The co-founder/chairman and the CEO of RE/MAX were named among the most influential real estate industry executives of 2013 on two prestigious lists released last week. Dave Liniger, who founded the Denver-based real estate franchise in 1973, and Margaret Kelly, who became the company's president and CEO in 2005, were named to the Inman 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders and the Swanepoel Power 200.

A 46-year-old Florida builder convicted of bank fraud, money laundering, and identity theft tied to three different banks and Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds was sentenced on January 16 to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay back more than $3.7 million. Lawrence Allen Wright, of Niceville, pleaded guilty to seven charges, among them, conspiracy to commit money laundering and making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution.

Single-family and condominium sales in California closed 2013 on a cautiously positive note, even though overall sales were down notably from the year prior, according to the latest quarterly market report from PropertyRadar. December sales in the Golden State's home and condo market grew 1.4 percent over November 2013 sales, but were down nearly 20 percent from December 2012. Overall, last year’s property sales finished the year at their lowest level since 2007.