Daily Dose

Despite claims that the recent rise in housing prices is solving the nation’s foreclosure and economic crises, millions of families continue to face financial problems from which they may never recover, according to research from the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley.

The White House has made it official: President Obama has nominated San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as the next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Castro had been the rumored frontrunner for the position, but wasn't officially announced and hadn't accepted the nomination until recently.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday, recorded a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent monthly rise in prices across 20 of the country's top markets. Removing adjustments, the index climbed 0.9 percent month-over-month. Compared to a year ago, March prices were up 12.4 percent, a step back from the 12.9 percent annual increase recorded in February.

Columbia Savings Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio was closed by the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with United Fidelity Bank of Evansville, Indiana to assume the failed bank's deposits.

Black Knight's Data and Analytics division released its latest Home Price Index (HPI), based on March 2014 residential real estate transactions. The group found that home prices rose 1.0 percent for the month, reflecting a yearly increase of 7.0 percent.

In an ongoing effort to improve housing education for consumers, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it has awarded $40 million in grants to hundreds of national, regional, and local organizations to bolster housing counseling programs.

An index measuring leading economic indicators in the United States posted its third straight increase in April, suggesting economic growth might be ready to take off in the coming months following a weak first quarter.

According to estimates released Friday by the Commerce Department, sales of new single-family homes last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, a 6.4 percent improvement over March’s upwardly revised rate of 407,000. March sales were originally reported at 384,000.

Homes are selling faster and at higher prices in the metropolitan Chicago real estate market in April, according to a recent analysis of market activity by RE/MAX. However, sales of distressed homes, either through foreclosure or short sales, fell off steeply for the month as the housing market continued to work through the foreclosure process.

In a recent ranking of the best beach town's by RealtyTrac, Hawaii held a slim majority over California and Florida with 11 of the top 20 beach markets in the nation. The company based its selections on four criteria: average temperature, percentage of sunny days, percentage of days with good air quality, and crime rates.