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The housing market showed signs of progress across the board, but the overall recovery is still fragile, hence the need for efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures, according to the Obama Administration Housing Scorecard for February. ""House prices are steadily rising above the mid-crisis lows in markets throughout the country, while inventories of new and existing homes are further tightening, and even estimates of the 'shadow inventory' are down,"" said HUD deputy assistant secretary for economic affairs Kurt Usowski. ""That said, we still remain considerably below long-term normal levels of home sales and production.""

In Jacksonville, Florida, Lender Processing Services, Inc., (LPS) announced the launch of new mortgage insurance (MI) products through the LPS Loan Quality Gateway.

Jones Lang LaSalle grew its leadership team from coast-to-coast with three executive hires.

Two large loan modifications helped bring down the CMBS delinquency rate, which fell 30 basis points (bps) to 7.61 percent, down from 7.91 percent in January, according to Fitch Ratings. The dollar balance of delinquent loans also sank below the $30 billion mark, a first since February 2010, Fitch stated. The dollar balance of delinquent loans also sank below the $30 billion mark, a first since February 2010, Fitch stated.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder caused a stir Wednesday by voicing the idea that certain financial institutions may be ""too big to jail."" In a testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Justice Department (DoJ) oversight, Holder said he is ""concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to to prosecute when we are hit with indications ... it will have a negative impact on the national economy.""

Strong demand and tight inventory have brought existing home sales back to ""normal"" levels, and further gains are possible, according to the latest market report from Capital Economics. Additionally, market conditions may prompt lenders to ""loosen the purse strings slightly"" and lend a little more freely. These conditions, combined with broader economic indicators, lead Capital Economics to revise its previous forecast of a 5 percent price gain this year up to 8 percent. Next year's projection is a smaller 4 percent gain.

The economy added 236,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 160,000, and that the unemployment rate would drop to 7.8 percent. Job growth for December, originally reported at 196,000, was revised upward to 219,000, while January was revised down to 119,000 from the originally reported 157,000. One concern from the report was the number of multiple jobholders, which increased 340,000. This means new jobs went to an individual already employed, making the decline in the unemployment rate even more significant.

Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI), a unit of Genworth Financial, introduced a newly enhanced tool to help lenders more quickly compare rates or obtain rate quotes.

Inventory shortage continues to darken the skies over the housing market as the spring selling season approaches, Zillow reported Thursday. Zillow observed a 16.6 percent year-over-year decline in its overall number of listed homes in late February, indicating an inventory crunch just as buyers start to feel more comfortable dipping their toes into the market. Nationwide, the greatest year-over-year inventory declines were among more expensive homes, with the availability of top-tier properties falling 20.5 percent on an annual basis.

Initial unemployment insurance claims fell 7,000 for the week ending March 2, closing the week at an advance estimate of 340,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The decline represents the fourth drop in the last five weeks, indicating a downward trend in layoffs.