In April alone, nearly 107,000 loans were refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), up from 99,000 in March, according to data FHFA. April's figure raises the total since the program's 2009 inception to 2.56 million. The program also continued to help a large share of underwater borrowers. From January to April, 44 percent of GSE borrowers who refinanced under the program had loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent.

Over the last year, rents for new leases grew at an annual pace of 3.1 percent following a slowdown in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of this year, annual rents were up by just 2.6 percent, marking the weakest growth since late 2010, according to MPF Research. At the same time, the national apartment occupancy rate also moved higher, increasing to 95.3 percent from 94.9 percent in previous quarter.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a set of bills last week that will impact that the state's foreclosure laws.

Delinquencies saw the steepest year-to-date drop since 2002 in May as new problem loan rates inched toward pre-crisis lows, according to Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Mortgage Monitor report released Monday. Since the end of December 2012, the delinquency rate has fallen by more than 15 percent to 6.08 percent in May. ""In large part, this is due to the continuing decline in new problem loans -- as fewer problem loans are coming into the system, the existing inventories are working their way through the pipeline,"" he added. LPS also reported the national equity rate is at 14.7 percent, which translates into 7.3 million loans and represents a 47 percent annual decrease.

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the fourth largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States, announced the rollout of a new program designed to give brokers the option to waive escrows up to 90 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) on all conventional products.

May was a strong month for home sales in Connecticut, the Warren Group reported. According to the group, sales in the state rose 2.9 percent year-over-year to 2,356.

National monetary policy alone cannot reliably prevent or reverse housing bubbles, according to a recent report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The downfall lies in the fact that housing prices and housing markets vary widely across the country, stated the researchers in the report. Monetary policy and large national programs such as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) may help some markets while hurting others, according to the report.

Legislators heard--or perhaps misheard--customers when they grumbled about ATM fees and clamped down even though there is a logical argument for them. Now, a new fee opportunity for major banks comes in the form of pay cards--debit cards loaded with your take-home pay each time you get paid. Workers must pay a fee to access their own wages and may be charged a fee for not using the card. The pay cards slither under, over, or around the definitions resulting from Dodd Frank for fees banks are permitted to charge for credit and debit cards or even for store cards.

First-time buyers might have more of a reason to seek out discounted properties since they are working with a smaller budget, according to a blog from Doorsteps.com. On average, first-time homebuyers spend $154,100 on a home, which is $65,900 less than repeat buyers, who spend an average of $220,000.

The city of Las Vegas partnered with Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto in addressing the state's housing crisis by contributing $100,000 for a homeowner relief program initiated by the attorney general. The contribution came from the city's HUD grant funds and will be used to increase awareness of Home Again.