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Condo prices are rising faster than single-family home prices, according to the Trulia Price Monitor, which observes asking prices on a monthly basis. Asking prices for condos rose 7.3 percent year-over-year in September, while asking prices for single-family homes rose 6.0 percent. Condo price gains outpaced single-family price gains in 18 of the largest 20 condo markets, according to Trulia.

Rating agency A.M. Best is revising its outlook for the U.S. title industry, bringing it down from "positive" to "stable" as concerns build about uncertainty in the housing recovery. The change reflects the company's outlook shifting from a possible ratings upgrade due to favorable trends to a "low likelihood of a rating change."

According to the latest market forecast from Veros Real Estate Solutions, released Thursday, 83 percent of American homes are appreciating, especially in markets west of the Mississippi. In fact, the top 25 markets are west of the river. In contrast, 24 of the weakest 25 markets are east of it.

Hedge fund Perry Capital has appealed a judge's decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year over the sweeping of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's profits into the Treasury. The investors believe that the diversion of GSE profits created a "windfall" for the government while short changing GSE shareholders.

Persisting tight lending standards may have cost the housing market about 18,700 new home sales in the last six months, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). A large majority—83 percent—of homebuilders surveyed stated they lost sales because potential buyers did not qualify for mortgage loans. The average builder lost nearly 10 percent of sales for this reason, according to the NAHB survey.

In a release on Thursday, MBA estimated new single-family home sales ran last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 425,000 units, just up from a rate of 424,000 units in August. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates new home sales last month totaled 32,000, a decrease of 5.9 percent from August's prediction of 34,000.

Real estate brokerage Redfin reported a 2.2 percent monthly increase in customers requesting tours with the company's agents last month, about half the improvement recorded this time last year. "Though the September uptick in tour requests was not as strong as last year, this late season pickup suggests that housing activity will hold steady through November before the seasonal slowdown in home searches over the holiday," said Chief Economist Nela Richardson.

Home equity lending made solid strides in the last year but still has a lot of ground to cover to return to pre-crisis levels, housing data firm RealtyTrac said in a new report Thursday. In its first-ever U.S. Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) Trends Report, the company revealed that lenders originated an estimated 797,865 HELOCs in the 12 months ending in June, up 20.6 percent from the prior period and the highest level since the year ending June 2009.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently sent a letter to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging the agency to adopt a cautious approach as it puts greater scrutiny on brokers operating under the "mini-correspondent" lender model. The letter comes months after the bureau signaled it will be watching out for brokers trying to skirt its compensation rules by operating the same way under a different label.

President Barack Obama met with financial regulators this week to commend them for progress made since the Dodd-Frank Act became law in 2010, the White House announced. The president also exhorted the regulators and participants in the meeting to "consider additional ways to prevent excessive risk-taking across the financial system."