Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on Thursday. For the week ending April 23, 2009, Freddie’s study shows that long-term interest rates are now lower than those for short-term mortgage products.

RealtyTrac on Wednesday that cities in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona accounted for the first quarter’s 26 highest foreclosure rates among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more.

Real estate lawyers Glen Rubin and Peter Lublin recently announced the founding of a special-purpose mortgage default law firm in Atlanta, Georgia – Rubin Lublin, LLC. Rubin and Lublin bring their combined 40 years’ experience to the new firm, concentrating on foreclosure and foreclosure prevention, bankruptcy, eviction, REO settlement, compliance, and all facets of real estate and title litigation.

Freddie Mac’s acting CFO David Kellermann, 41, was found dead in his Vienna, Virginia home early Wednesday morning. According to Washington, D.C. television station WUSA, Kellermann’s wife told local police he committed suicide.

A report released on Tuesday by the Special Inspector General’s Office for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is calling for greater oversight of the administration’s financial rescue efforts.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported on Wednesday that U.S. home prices rose 0.7 percent from January to February, based on the purchase prices of homes owned or guaranteed by the GSEs. It’s the second month in a row that FHFA has recorded a national gain in residential real estate values.

The Hopp Law Firm recently announced its relocation and the opening of The Hopp Law Centre. The 45,000 square foot facility is centrally located in downtown Denver, across from the Denver Mint and the new Denver Justice Center, and adjacent to the Denver city and county offices.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) introduced new legislation on Monday that he says will better protect homeowners from the recent wave of housing scams spreading throughout the country. The bill would provide local prosecutors with federal funding to beef up their anti-fraud efforts.

In testimony before the Congressional Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers that the vast majority of U.S. banks have more capital than they need. Geithner’s remarks provided investors with a hopeful preview of the bank stress test results, and led to the largest stock gain in almost two weeks on Tuesday, following a rally among financial shares.

Ocwen Financial Corporation, a subprime mortgage servicer headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, was added to the government’s short list of mortgage companies under contract for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HMP) on Monday.