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BofA Offering Up to $30K in Relocation Assistance for Short Sales

Just days after Bank of America officially announced its nationwide program offering up to $30,000 in relocation assistance for short sales, a Massachusetts-based real estate company revealed in a blog that one of its clients was approved to receive $10,000. In order to be eligible for the relocation assistance, BofA stated that the short sale must be initiated by the end of this year and close by September 26, 2013. Also, the amount offered is determined on a case-by-case basis, with variables such as the value of the home and amount owed factored into the equation.

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Judicial States Will Lag Behind Recovery: Capital Economics

While the housing market is starting to show signs that it is strengthening, for some states, recovery still seems to be in the very distant future. According to a report from Capital Economics, one factor that will determine the speed of recovery for individual states is the type of foreclosure procedure. Paul Diggle, author of the report, said that many of the judicial states, which are struggling to clear their backlog of foreclosures, will lag behind during recovery. However, Rob Pitingolo, research assistant with the Urban Institute, noted that it's not the judicial process itself that is the problem, but a lack of resources.

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MGIC Files Lawsuit Against Freddie Mac and FHFA Over Pool Dispute

MGIC Investment Corporation announced Thursday that its Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation subsidiary filed a lawsuit against Freddie Mac and its conservator, FHFA. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the dispute is in regards to a disagreement over aggregate loss limit under certain pool insurance policies.

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Median Home Prices Rise in April: RE/MAX

The RE/MAX: National Housing Report found that the national median home price rose for the third straight month in April, indicating that the housing recovery in 2012 is continuing. The report surveyed 53 metropolitan areas and found that the median home price was $161,000, 3.2 percent higher than in March and 5.9 percent higher than in April 2011. February marked the first time in 18 months that home prices experienced an increase, and data from March and April shows a positive trend.

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As Economy Improves, Prices to Hit Bottom in 2013 After Dropping: Fitch

Fitch Ratings released a report projecting another 7.8 percent drop in U.S. home prices before the market reaches sustainability, according to the rating agency's fourth quarter sustainable home price (SHP) report. This is a decrease from last quarter's prediction of a 9.1 percent drop. As long as economic growth is steady and inflation runs close to 3 percent annually, Fitch believes home prices will finally hit bottom in late 2013, and then move towards a slow recovery.

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Story of Recovery Will Lack Uniformity: Demand Institute

While the U.S. housing market appears to be on the road to recovery, it will be a rather patchy one, with some regions seeing home prices rise as high as 5 percent and others falling flat, according to a report released from the Demand Institute, which is jointly operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen. According to the report, three variables will indicate the speed of recovery for individual states: state-level unemployment rates, the proportion of foreclosure inventory relative to total inventory, and the extent of recent price declines.

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Southern California Home Sales Figures Rise

According to numbers released by DataQuick, last month's home sales numbers in Southern California experienced a modest climb from last year. Median home sales prices in Southland rose year-over-year in April for the first time in 16 months. The median price paid for a home in Southland was $290,000 this year, up from $280,000 in March 2012 and April 2011. This increase is attributed to gains in the region's coastal counties, where home sales made up 71.5 percent of the area's total, an increase from last year's 68 percent. Also cited as cause for this year's higher numbers is the fact that foreclosed and discounted properties made up a smaller portion of sales.

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Week After Week, Rates Continue to Break Record-Low Numbers

Just when it seemed like they could not fall any further, fixed-rate mortgages continued to drop, breaking record-low numbers once again, according to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.79 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 17, slipping from last week's average of 3.83 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell, ending the week at 3.04 percent (0.7 point). Bankrate.com, which releases a weekly survey using data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 markets, reported a record-low average for the 30-year fixed, which dropped below 4 percent.

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Initial Unemployment Claims Creeping Up

First time claims were unchanged at 370,000 for the week ended May 12 after the number of initial claims filed for the previous week was revised upward, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected initial claims would decrease to 365,000. The Labor Department had initially reported 367,000 claims filed for the week ended May 5. The revision turned that report to an increase of 2,000 from a previously reported decline of 1,000. Continuing claims - reported on a one week lag - increased 18,000 to 3,265,000 after the preceding week's report was bumped up to 3,247,000 from an originally reported 3,269,000, coincidentally another 18,000 increase from the original report.

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