The number of foreclosure filings is still rising, even as foreclosure activity dropped in more than half of the country’s worst-hit areas in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year. Foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac said in a report released today that foreclosure filings in 14 of the top 20 metropolitan areas declined year-over-year. The decrease contrasted the market’s general trend regarding foreclosure filings, which rose 16% nationwide in the same period.

Most of the declines were recorded by cities located in the Sunbelt “bubble” states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, which accounted for all of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates. Las Vegas topped the list, even though foreclosure filings in Sin City were 19% better in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

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The housing market remains on course to recovering from the worst crisis in decades as home prices rose for the first time in three years.

According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, prices of single-family homes registered an annual increase of 0.6%, a first since December 2006. Housing experts attributed the slight increase to the tax credit program that is set to expire this week.

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has called on the Senate to immediately approve a legislation aimed at extending government aid to home buyers in rural areas. The bill, which was unanimously approved by the House Financial Services Committee, seeks to help rural home buyers get continued access to affordable mortgages through the Department of Agriculture’s loan guarantee program.

Under the existing program due to expire on Friday, lenders are required to pay mandatory fees to finance a mortgage program for rural housing. NAR President Vicki Cox Golder said the program is crucial to the housing market’s recovery. “Fast passage is critical to our nation’s rural citizens, and needs immediate congressional attention. The Senate’s failure to act in a timely manner would create a gap in the home buying process and unnecessarily burden poor families in rural areas,” she said.

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Despite relentless government efforts to curb the incidence of mortgage fraud, a recent study indicated that the number of cases involving misrepresentation or misinformation on mortgage loans application is still on the rise. The report, released by Mortgage Asset Research Institute, showed that mortgage fraud cases rose 7% last year after surging 26% in 2008.

According to the study, there are three types of mortgage fraud that are prevalent today. The first one is the so-called “liar” loans, wherein individuals deliberately list false income claims for borrowers. Another type is the inflated appraisal, wherein mortgage loan officers or brokers coerce appraisers to overstate the value of a property so it would qualify for a bigger mortgage. The third type, known as false occupancy claims, involves buyers claiming they will reside in a home but are actually buying it for investment purposes.

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The Commerce Department has reported that the percentage of vacant housing units across the country dropped slightly to 2.6% in the first three months of the year from 2.7% in the last quarter of 2009. The department said the South had the highest vacancy rate at 2.8% followed by the West (2.7%) and the Midwest (2.6%). The North posted the lowest vacancy rate at 1.8%.

Despite the slight drop, vacancies remained at high levels as the housing market struggles to recover from the worst recession to hit the nation in decades. A high vacancy rate indicates that homeowners moved out of their house before it was sold.

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Fannie Mae is set to implement new guidelines that will benefit homeowners who have lost their homes in a short sale or gave the deed on their house back to the bank due to financial problems. Under the new guideline, which will take effect on July 1st, homeowners who’ve done short sales may now reapply for a new mortgage to buy a new home in as little as two years.

Previously, homeowners who lost their homes through short sale or deeds on lieu of foreclosure need to wait at least four years before they can qualify again for a new mortgage from the Washington, D.C.-based government-sponsored enterprise. Fannie Mae did not explain the reason behind the rule change but housing experts believe that the move is aimed at gathering more support for the Obama administration’s relentless drive to reduce the flood of rising foreclosures.

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The real estate industry has another reason to celebrate as last month’s sales of newly constructed single-family homes registered the highest increase in more than 40 years.

According to the data released by the Department of Commerce, new home sales jumped 27% to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000 in March. The monthly increase, which exceeded expectations, is said to be the biggest in 47 years and the sharpest since July 2009. Median sales price, on the other hand, rose by more than 4% to $214,000 year-on-year, while the number of new residential properties for sale fell by 2% to 228,000.

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The first-time home buyer tax credit program has had minimal effect compared to the first version of the federal initiative that expired in December last year. The assessment was made by Moody’s Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi, even as sales of existing homes surged 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units in March from 5.01 million in February. “This credit appears to be a shadow of the November credit,” Zandi said.

The rise in home sales in March represented a 16% increase compared to sales in the same month last year. Moody’s expect home sales to peak at a 5.7 million annual rate in May, lower than the 6.5 million annual rate recorded last fall. According to the report released by the National Association of Realtors, the national median existing home price was $170,700 in March while sales of distressed homes, which normally sell at 15% discount, accounted for 35% of sales in the same period, unchanged from February.

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A new survey has revealed that most homeowners still value their properties and are willing to spend a lot of cash to make them more attractive despite the financial hardships that many Americans are experiencing nowadays.

An online poll conducted by credit card company American Express showed that 62% of the 2,000 homeowners surveyed are considering renovating their homes to improve their look and boost their value. “Americans’ most prized possessions are their homes and they are committed to continuing to enhance their appearance and value in spite of the softer real estate market,” American Express senior vice-president and general manager Pamela Codispoti said.

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While the real estate market has yet to regain its previous splendor, many Americans believe that there has never been a better time to buy a house than now, according to a recent survey.

The First-Time Home Buyers and Sellers study conducted by Century 21 Real Estate LLC showed that 80% of home buyers polled believe that now is the right time to buy houses as home prices are expected to go up next year. The Realogy subsidiary attributed consumers’ favorable outlook towards buying properties to declining home prices, low mortgage rates, and the tax credit programs implemented by the federal government.

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