One of the most interesting results of poring through economic data reports is that the details often tell a different story than the headline. The recent report on retail sales is a case in point. While the vast majority of commentators were impressed with a strong 1.1 percent month-over-month increase in overall sales, those who scratched the surface were rewarded for their efforts by learning more than half of the month-over-month increase came from an increase in gasoline station sales as prices. In addition, coverage of the recent report on housing permits and starts was dominated by the increase in both permits and starts. A closer look at the permit-starts data revealed another important phenomenon: a shift from single-family to multifamily construction.

Connecticut home sales at the start of the year rose 14 percent to 1,519, the highest level since January 2008 when there were 1,653 recorded sales. The gain also marks the 13th straight month of increases.

Home prices rose another 0.6 percent in January, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index, which measures the prices of homes owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. January's gain continues a persistent monthly trend of rising prices started in January 2012. The past 12 months of rising prices have resulted in a total gain of 6.5 percent. While prices continue their upward trend nationally, one-third of the nine U.S. Census Divisions recorded price declines in January--the East South Central Division, the New England Division, and the Middle Atlantic Division.

Freddie Mac increased its efforts to support greater transparency through the release of loan-level data for its single-family mortgages. The dataset includes about 15.7 million fully amortizing 30-year fixed-rate single-family mortgages originated between 1999 to 2011, which represents about 53 percent of the GSE's mortgage acquisitions for that period.

While a few stumbling blocks remain, Freddie Mac insists the economy is finally headed from gloom to bloom this spring. The GSE's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for March shows low mortgage rates, rising prices, and gradually improving consumer confidence will bolster home sales as the homebuying season starts. Compared to 2012, experts at Freddie Mac expect home sales to increase 8 to 10 percent this year, coming to about 5.4 million units sold by year's end.

After spiking last week, mortgage rates took a dive this week as tension broke out in Europe over the financial crisis in the island country of Cyprus. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.54 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending March 21, down from 3.63 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.08 percent; it has remained below the 4.00 percent mark for a full year now.

A new report from a government watchdog accused Freddie Mac, its servicers, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) of not meeting requirements when handling and resolving escalated consumer complaints. According to a report from the FHFA Office of Inspector General (OIG), Freddie Mac and eight of its largest servicers, which service 70 percent of the GSE’s mortgages, received over 34,000 complaints that became escalated cases during a 14-month time period ending November 30, 2012. After tracking the escalated cases, FHFA OIG found seven out of the eight Freddie Mac servicers did not resolve all escalated cases within the 30-day requirement.

Resolve Solution Services Corporation, a Dallas-based company specializing in borrower outreach and customer contact nationwide, announced its status as a Certified Minority Business Enterprise.

Ally Bank has reached an agreement with Quicken Loans to sell the last of its remaining mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) portfolio, both companies announced. The purchase price is estimated to be approximately $280 million. ""This agreement marks a key milestone for Ally and, upon successful completion of the MSR transactions, Ally Bank will have exited all the non-strategic mortgage activities,"" said Barbara Yastine, present and CEO of Ally Bank.

A new face has joined RealtyTrac's executive team as SVP of the RealtyTrac Network. Industry veteran Lisa Mackey was selected for the role and is charged with leading overall expansion of the recently launched licensed network for top brokerage companies.