After observing a """"first in, first out"""" recovery over the past year in which markets hardest hit during the crisis experienced the fastest recoveries, Clear Capital is now examining whether the housing market, in fact, follows the allegory of """"The Tortoise and the Hare."""" In this analogy, the company points to Phoenix as an obvious hare in the recent recovery, and Denver as a tortoise. Looking at the two, it appears slow and steady wins the race after all.

Following a post-summer slowdown, homebuyers across the nation put a little more force on the accelerator in November. According to a recent report from Redfin, 27.2 percent of homes in 23 metros across the United States went under contract within two weeks of listing during the month of November. Despite being frustrated with a lack of selection, homebuyers are ready to move quickly when they find a home they like, the company says.

Realtors expressed overall confidence in the market and seasonal gains in home sales numbers over the next six months, but they also expressed concerns over the regulatory environment and buyers' access to credit, according to the latest member survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors. The survey also polled members on buyers' credit scores, down payments, days-on-market, and failed transactions.

The nation's two largest mortgage financiers saw their numbers move in opposite directions during the month of November. Fannie Mae's book of business increased for the second month in a row (+0.1 percent), marking the fourth month of increases in 2013. Freddie Mac, on the other hand, reported an annualized decline of -2.0 percent. November makes five consecutive months of reduced activity for Freddie.

The National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index, which serves as a forward-looking indicator for closed existing-home sales one-to-two months out, bumped up slightly in November to 101.7 from October's downwardly revised reading of 101.5. The trade group said the data indicates a """"flattening market"""" but stressed that 2013 as a whole has produced """"the best sales total in seven years.""""

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., and Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), have been given the green light by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to move forward with Fidelity's previously announced acquisition of LPS, provided the companies sell several Oregon assets that present anti-competition risks.

Trulia's chief economist Jed Kolko says while 2013 was the year of the investor, they should ease back from the purchase market somewhat, and 2014 will be the year of the repeat homebuyer as they pick up the slack. Other market changes to note in the new year, according to Kolko, include lower affordability, less frenzied homebuying, and a shift in the rental market from single-family homes to urban apartments.

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