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Year-over-year, the number of completed foreclosures decreased about 19 percent to 69,000 in March 2012 compared to 85,000 in March 2011, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report for March. Month-over-month, with the number of completed foreclosures in February 2012 at 66,000, foreclosures increased about 4.5 percent in March 2012. In addition to the yearly decrease in completed foreclosures, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by nearly 6 percent, or 100,000, in March 2012 compared to the year before.

The Justice Department settled its first lawsuit involving discrimination against women and families in the mortgage insurance industry Monday. The lawsuit was against Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for discriminating against women on maternity leave, a violation of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits any discrimination in housing and mortgage lending based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status.

According to data from Clear Capital, over the last year, REO prices have increased 5.5 percent, while fair market sales prices dropped 2.9 percent. The real estate data provider explained that demand for REOs is most likely causing the increase in prices and named Carrington Holding Company, Amherst Securities Group, and Waypoint Financial as examples of investors purchasing single-family REOs with the purpose of converting them into rental properties.

Studies indicate the foreclosure crisis and its community-debilitating aftereffects are having a disproportionate impact on minorities and minority-owned real estate businesses. The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the oldest African American trade group of real estate professionals in the country, has positioned itself alongside members of Congress, minority businesses, and granting agencies like the Salvation Army to face this challenge head-on. NAREB is hosting the State of Housing in Black America Issues Forum (SHIBA) on Wednesday, May 2, in Washington, D.C., with special appearances by Reps. Elijah Cummings and Eleanor Holmes Norton.

American Home Mortgage Servicing(AHMSI) partnered with Compliance Connections, a division of Safeguard Properties, to be more proactive when dealing with code issues for its property portfolio. Compliance Connections offers a web-based portal, allowing mortgage servicers to communicate immediately when code issues arise.

With an upsurge in demand, banks resumed tightening standards for residential mortgage loans, the Federal Reserve reported Monday (April 30) in its quarterly survey of bank lending standards. According to the survey, a net 30.2 percent of banks surveyed in the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey reported increased demand in the first quarter for traditional mortgage loans compared with a net 3.8 percent reporting stronger demand in the fourth quarter. According to the survey though, a net 1.9 percent of survey respondents reported tightening loan standards compared with the first quarter when a net 5.7 percent said they were easing standards.

After what seemed to be a slow month for bank closings, with just one closing April 20, the FDIC announced five bank closings Friday, raising the national tally of failed banks to 22 so far this year. Regulators ceased operations for Bank of the Eastern Shore, HarVest Bank of Maryland, Inter Savings Bank, Plantation Federal Bank, and Palm Desert National Bank.

The nation’s homeownership rate (seasonally adjusted) dropped to 65.4 percent in the first quarter, its lowest level since the first quarter of 1997, the Census Bureau reported Monday. The homeownership rate fell in all four census regions in the first quarter – the steepest drop in the Northeast, 1.2 percentage points to 62.5 percent. The homeownership rate fell 0.8 percentage points in the South to 67.5 percent; 0.5 percentage points in the Midwest to 69.5 percent, and 0.2 percentage points in the West to 59.9 percent. At the same, the homeowner vacancy rate fell to 2.2 percent nationwide, down from 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and the rental vacancy rate dropped to 8.8 percent from 9.7 percent one year earlier.

Consumer spending grew just 0.3 percent in March, down from the 0.9 percent growth in February, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Monday. Economists had expected spending to be up 0.4 percent. At the same time, personal income grew 0.4 percent in March, BEA said, slightly faster than February's 0.3 percent growth and consensus expectation of 0.3 percent. Personal savings as a percentage of disposable (after tax) income edged up to 3.8 percent in March from 3.7 percent in February; it had been 4.3 percent in January.

While Radar Logic reported home prices in February showed a month-over-month increase, the real estate data provider sees this trend as possibly being temporary, considering that warm weather and investment buying helped to drive up sales. Home prices increased 1.9 percent over the month ending February 16, according to Radar Logic's RPX Composite Price, which tracks 25 major metropolitan areas. This increase was bolstered by strong sales in February, with sales from institutional investors increasing significantly since 2009 in certain metros, especially the hardest hit areas.