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The Commerce Department estimated Tuesday that new home sales in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, a jump of 11.6 percent from November's downwardly revised sales rate of 431,000. Economists had expected a smaller increase in sales to a rate of 452,000.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday, shows house prices across all nine of the country's census divisions fell 0.1 percent from October to November. The narrower 10- and 20-city composite indices also dipped, dropping 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent month-to-month, respectively.

Ocwen's response called the investors' claims "ill-conceived" and state that "[w]hile knee-jerk foreclosures may redound to the special economic interests of your clients, they are not in the best interests of the trusts as a whole, not consistent with industry practice, and therefore prohibited under the servicing agreements."

Based on company transactional data and Google search activity, Auction.com predicted Monday that existing-home sales in January will come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.06 million, just slightly above the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) December estimate of 5.04 million.

Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported Friday afternoon that a number of major investors, including BlackRock, MetLife, and Pimco, filed a formal notice to Ocwen accusing the servicer of failing to properly collect payments on $82 billion of home loans.

National home prices remained largely unchanged in the fall, according to the latest FNC Residential Price Index report. After 30 months of growth in the national housing market, prices dropped off in October and stayed virtually the same in November.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Friday that sales of pre-owned homes rose 2.4 percent month-over-month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million. It was the sixth time in the past seven months in which existing-home sales topped an annual rate of 5 million.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said loan officers at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase accepted cash, marketing materials, and consumer information in exchange for business referrals to Genuine Total, a now-defunct title firm formerly headquartered in Maryland.

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court convened Wednesday to spar with attorneys—and each other—in a case that could narrow long-held interpretations of a federal law barring housing discrimination.

Builders broke ground on new residences at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million in December, an increase of 4.4 percent month-over-month and 5.3 percent year-over-year, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. For the entire year, the government estimates homebuilders started on 1.01 million new units, making 2014 the first year since 2007 that starts topped the 1 million mark.