NPR reported Friday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might consider principal reduction as a means to help underwater homeowners. Edward DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA, has stood firm in his decision to not allow for principal reduction, despite mounting criticism from Democrats and petitioning from organizations to have DeMarco fired. ""NPR and ProPublica have learned that both firms have concluded that giving homeowners a big break on their mortgages would make good financial sense in many cases,"" NPR stated in its story.

Dallas-based mortgage lender AmericaHomeKey (AHK) can no longer do business with the FHA due to repeat violations of FHA requirements, HUD's Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) announced its Friday. AHK can no longer originate and underwrite new mortgages insured by the FHA, and the MRB is imposing $268,000 in penalties.

Foreclosure timelines are on the rise, and the increase is resulting in greater losses to residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), according to Moody's Investor Service's Servicer Dashboard for the fourth quarter 2011, released Thursday. The average loan in foreclosure has been in the process for 571 days, but judicial states are weighing heavily on that average. Foreclosures in judicial states have aged an average 654 days, while foreclosures in non-judicial states have aged an average 297 days, according to Moody's.

The Asian Real Estate Association of America: (AREAA) recently launched AREAA Net, an international networking platform to connect members with 400,000 real estate professionals from over 100 countries, according to a release from the association.

A former Fannie Mae VP of single-family strategic initiatives joined Veros Real Estate Solutions as SVP of strategic initiatives. Charles Rumfola was selected for the position and will manage numerous initiatives for Veros in the secondary markets. Rumfola, who joined Fannie Mae in 1992, will be based out of Wasington D.C.

In select hard-hit markets, Bank of America is introducing a program that will give some of its customers who are facing foreclosure the option to remain in their homes as a tenant rather than as a homeowner. The Charlotte, North Carolina based-bank made the announcement Thursday in a release. The program, called Mortgage to Lease, will solicit fewer than 1,000 customers who qualify; there will not be opportunities to volunteer or apply for the program.

New homes sales fell 1.6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000, the second straight monthly decline, the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Friday. Sales for January were revised downward from 321,000 to 318,000.

Last year was a good year for home bargain-hunters, according to the latest data from Radar Logic. The firm's January report revealed a 5.42 percent decline in prices from January 2011 to January 2012 and a simultaneous 7.7 percent increase in transactions. The 5.42 percent price decline over the year brought Radar Logic's composite to its lowest rate since July 2002. Radar Logic predicts prices will remain flat this year and next before increasing ""at an accelerating pace"" in 2014 and 2015.

Real estate blogger Jay Thompson is joining Zillow as the director of industry outreach and social media. Thompson brings nearly seven years of social media experience to Zillow. In addition to his duties as a blogger, he also offers his expertise in real estate and social media conferences as a speaker, and is licensed to teach continuing education classes on social media marketing. Thompson will join Zillow's partner outreach team.

While prices are expected to drop for the year 2012, house prices were left unchanged from December to January, according to the FHFA’s monthly House Price Index. Over a 12-month span ending in January 2012, prices fell 0.8 percent. While the drop is not dramatic, the U.S. Index shows prices are 19.2 percent below the April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level. The FHFA monthly index is based on purchase prices of homes backing mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.