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Officials at the Federal Reserve voted this week to continue cutting back its stimulative monthly asset purchases despite signs of a slowdown in economic growth to start the year.

Joseph A. Smith, Jr., monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, filed final crediting reports with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. The reports confirmed that banks have satisfied their consumer relief and refinancing obligations under the settlement, nearly a full year ahead of schedule.

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.

A study by the Urban Institute calls for "expanding the credit box" in order to promote not only a housing recovery, but an overall economic recovery. The report estimated, "1.22 million fewer purchase mortgages were made in 2012 than would have been the case had credit availability remained at 2001 levels."

Two reports issued by the Wells Fargo Economics Group both point towards a positive climate for economic growth, albeit for different reasons. The first report followed FDIC loan performance, noting cyclical improvement in loan performance and a trend favorable for credit quality. The second report commented on underwriting practices.

Realtor.com released its February Monthly Housing Trend Report, which showed an increase in listing prices as well as an increase of housing inventory. The increase in both list price as well as inventory points to a "strong early beginning to this spring's home buying season," the report said.

"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.

According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) came up nearly a tenth of a percentage point to 4.37 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending March 13. Last year, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.63 percent. The 15-year fixed average was 3.38 percent (0.6 point), up from 3.32 percent last week.

More than 4 million first-time buyers want to enter the market, but they face some tough issues as market conditions aren't exactly favorable to new buyers. This conclusion came from the Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI), a new calculation released by Zillow and Pulsenomics.

Foreclosure filings are down to record lows, but a more sinister-sounding problem may be on the rise—"zombie foreclosures." RealtyTrac released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for February, reporting that foreclosure filings (default notices, schedule auctions, and bank repossessions) were 112,498, down 10 percent from January and down 27 percent from the previous year.