Home price purchases were mixed month-over-month in May, with non-distressed prices up and short sales down, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. From April to May, transactions reported by HousingPulse survey respondents revealed the average price for non-distressed properties rose 1.7 percent, while the average price for short sales fell 0.7 percent. For damaged REOs, the average price went up 1.8 percent and for move-in ready REOs, the average price dropped 1.5 percent.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency filed suit Friday against Illinois tax officials for imposing unlawful taxes on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Several Illinois counties have attempted to collect transfer taxes from the GSEs, and some have threatened to reject future property transfers from the enterprises if they do not pay the state and county transfer taxes. Illinois officials have demanded transfer fees from both enterprises. Similar claims and demands have been made from other Illinois counties.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appointed Thomas J. Butler as the director of the agency's new Office of Credit Ratings.

Looking for a beach home? Perhaps not, but according to a report released by RealtyTrac, certain beach towns offer sizeable discounts that make vacation dream homes seem a little bit more accessible. Using home sales prices for distressed properties in the first quarter of 2012, the real estate database company ranked the top 10 beach towns to buy foreclosures in its June 2012 Foreclosure News Report. The top four beach towns had discounts averaging at least 20 percent compared to prices for non-distressed properties, and the top two had prices averaging less than $100,000.

Commercial real estate prices fell in April across nearly all sectors, according to Moody's/RCA Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI). The CPPI, composed of 20 indices, showed that CRE prices in the United States were down 0.6 percent in April. Prices fell across all sectors of the CPPI with the exception of the industrial sub-sector, which saw a price gain of 1.1 percent. Compared to the last quarter, the industrial sector posted the biggest gain of 3.9 percent, but that gain still lags the recovery in the core commercial sector of which it is a part.

Amherst Securities recently released a report declaring that principal reduction modifications, without question, are the most effective form of modification. Between three types of modifications - principal, rate, and capitalization - the controversial and much-debated principal reduction mod was found to be the most effective based when it comes to its 12-month re-default rate. For 2011 modifications, the re-default rate after 12 months for principal modifications was 12 percent compared to 23 percent for rate modifications and 30 percent for capitalization modifications, according to the report.

Although mortgage fraud activity seems to be leveling off, a report from MortgageDaily.com showed that mortgage fraud continues to cause foreclosure problems for the most victimized states. Florida held the highest state index with 163. The state has held the No. 1 position for four of the past five quarters. For the first time since the index's inception in 2006, North Carolina broke into the top five with an index of 53.

Clayton Holdings LLC announced Thursday that the company has hired Robert A. Harris to serve as general counsel.

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) announced Thursday that it is making available 203k home rehabilitation loans as part of the Homeowner's Assurance Program (HAP).

New home sales jumped to 369,000 in May - the highest level since April 2010 - as the median and average home prices both dropped, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Monday. Economists had expected sales to reach 350,000 from the prior month's 343,000.