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Homeownership, long considered part of the American Dream, continues to have mass appeal but with a slightly more practical angle, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Texas Trust Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in North Texas.

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Tuesday that claim forms will be sent out to borrowers who may be eligible for settlement funds due to losing their home to foreclosure. The funds are made available through the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, which set aside $1.5 billion in payments for 2 million qualifying borrowers.

Recently, an article was published by the Chicago Tribune discussing the work of my Office, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG). The piece, titled ""Mortgage cops taking tough stance"" (Sept. 13, 2012), implies that my Office is going to lock up anyone who strategically defaults on their mortgage. This is not the case, and I'd like to put in context what we are and are not doing.

Sales for single-family homes and condominiums in Massachusetts posted yearly increases in August, according to a report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Homes with mortgages owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac gained in prices both monthly and yearly in July, according to the FHFA monthly House Price Index (HPI). In July, prices rose 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from June and rose 3.7 percent from July 2011. The index currently sits 16.4 below its April 2007 peak.

Major metro areas such as Phoenix and Atlanta aren't the only places where investment opportunities abound. Small towns with populations between 200,000 and 500,000 have plenty to offer investors despite their smaller size, according to a quarterly report from Local Market Monitor (LMM) and HomeVestors of America, Inc.

Mortgage lenders who survived the residential mortgage meltdown must now brace for repurchase demands from their third-party investors — and for the refusal of their liability insurers to defend and indemnify them against these demands. Mortgage lenders should be prepared to protect themselves against such denials of coverage.

U.S. home prices continued to increase in July, according to Case-Shiller, with its 20-city index up 1.6 percent from June and the 10-city index up 1.5 percent. The 10- city index rose to its highest level since November 2010 and the 20-city index to the highest level since October 2010. Price rose month-month in all of the 20 cities. Year-year, the 10-city index was up 0.6 percent and the 20-city index rose 1.2 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the 20 city index to increase 1.7 percent from June and 1.2 percent from July 2011.

The company released an examination of the Badger State’s economy as part of its ongoing series on swing states in the 2012 election. Whereas states like Colorado and New Hampshire have fair-to-middling economic pictures, IHS called Wisconsin’s employment situation in 2012 ""grim.""

Freddie Mac issued a noticed of potentially fraudulent invoices in a bulletin to sellers and servicers on Monday.