The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported today that, although pending home sales in the state fell from March to April, other statistics indicate a good start for the housing market. C.A.R.'s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) fell from a revised 138.9 in March to 128.0 in April. This index was nearly 14 points higher than the revised 114.4 index from April 2011, marking the 12th consecutive month that pending sales were higher year-over-year. Pending home sales figures are often used as an indicator of the market's future direction.

With low rates and low prices, homeowner affordability continues to hit record levels, reaching another high for the first quarter of 2012, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). During the previous record-breaking 2011 fourth quarter, 75.9 percent of homes sold were affordable to median-income earners. For this most recent quarter, HOI data showed 77.5 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $65,000.

The take on the state of the housing market, according to Capital Economics, is that the U.S. is currently in recovery mode. Although other reports may contend the bottom is yet to be reached, the research firm points to increasing home sales and the drop in excess supply, which leads to price gains, as reasons to believe the U.S. is beyond bottoming out. Data released on Tuesday from the National Association of Realtors backs what Capital Economics had to say. The NAR reported a rise in existing home sales in April after a two-month drop and a rise in prices. Even with positive reports on the housing market, the question of how long this will last still remains.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced Tuesday that it has fined Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., $3.5 million for providing inaccurate mortgage perform information, among other violations. This inaccurate data may have led investors to make faulty decisions, FINRA said. FINRA found that Citigroup posted inaccurate mortgage performance data on its website from January 2006 to October 2007. This information stayed up until May 2012 despite reason to believe the data might not be accurate. Citigroup was informed several times that the posted information was faulty, but it did not fix the problem until May this year.

RE/MAX announced Monday that its global site, Global.remax.com, has drawn in nearly 750,000 unique visitors who have generated 18 million page views in six months.

George B. Flessas intended to retire in the Philippines after selling his REO firm back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Instead of settling, living in a new country inspired him to start another venture due to a need he saw for a nationwide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the low cost to operate a business in the Philippines.

The podcast, titled From the Bar: Inside Compliance with Roger Fendelman, will focus on the industry's toughest compliance issues. The program is meant to explain rulemaking by the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to answer concerns that lenders have had.

PHH Corporation announced Monday that David E. Tucker has been appointed president of PHH Mortgage Corporation, a service and mortgage origination subsidiary of PHH. Tucker is succeeding Smriti Laxman Popenoe, PHH Mortgage's interim president since March 2012.

Stearns Lending, Inc., announced Tuesday that Gary B. Fabian has joined the company as its CFO.

Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS) announced Tuesday the completion of its Type 2 SSAE No. 16 and SOC 3 examinations.