Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW), a wholesale lender based in Ocala, Florida, has agreed to pay 13 states and the District of Columbia $9 million in fines after regulators took a closer look at the company’s nontraditional mortgage loans made in 2006.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac modified nearly 37,000 home loans during the first quarter of 2009, according to the GSEs’ regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The Q1 figure represents a 57 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and more than double the number of modifications made in the first quarter of last year.

Colonial Savings F.A., headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, says government initiatives to lower interest rates and provide incentives to first-time buyers have led to a lending boom for the bank’s mortgage divisions.

Sales of existing homes showed another gain in May, benefiting from favorable affordability conditions and the first-time buyer tax credit, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.

The value of real estate goes through cycles, which can be affected by many factors, including the basic rules of supply and demand. Below is a quick reference guide to some of the influencing factors and advice on how to spot a turning point in the market, brought to you by the Appraisal Institute , an industry association of real estate appraisers headquartered in Chicago.

Pleasanton, California’s SmartZip, Inc. has announced the public beta launch of its Web site, SmartZip.com, and the introduction of SmartZip Score, analytics-based investment ratings for residential properties, including foreclosures.

The Sacramento, California-based real estate tracking and research company ForeclosureS.com says its market data shows that many areas of the country are now experiencing rebounds, with declining foreclosures, increasing home sales, and even increased average sale prices.

Government stimulus funding totaling $5 trillion has unintentionally introduced new opportunities for fraud and corruption worldwide, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Global Fraud Report. Kroll is a risk consulting firm, headquartered in New York City, with more than 65 offices throughout the United States and around the globe.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced Monday that it has lowered its forecast of mortgage originations in 2009 to $2.03 trillion, a drop of over $700 billion from its March forecast. The association explained that $84 billion of the drop is due to lower purchase originations and the other $616 billion-plus is due to fewer rate and term refinancings and very low volumes within the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).

Rainbow City, Alabama’s RealtyBid.com and Clearwater, Florida’s ValCom, Inc., have teamed up to give away a house in a different state every month through a new promotional campaign called The House Game.