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Michael Marchillo, a plumber, has been trying and failing for months to buy a bigger home for his family here in Sin City. He was pre-qualified by a bank for a $130,000 mortgage, which a year ago would have landed a typical three-bedroom home in the area. No more. Now, the 36-year-old says, it's hard to compete with "greedy investors" who come to the table flush with cash for quick deals.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/02/us-vegas-housing-specialreport...

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to the lowest in almost 18 years, reflecting rising demand for rentals and investor purchases in the housing market.

The share of Americans who own their homes was 65 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.4 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since the third quarter of 1995, the Census Bureau reported today. The vacancy rate for rented homes dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.8 percent a year earlier, while vacancies for owner-occupied houses fell to 2.1 percent from 2.2 percent. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/u-s-home-vacancies-fell-in-firs...

The national mortgage delinquency rate might be “stubbornly high,” according to TransUnion, but the delinquency rate would actually reflect normal levels seen 10 years ago if cure or foreclosure timelines were shortened. 

According to TransUnion, the first quarter national mortgage delinquency rate (60-plus delinquencies) was 4.56 percent, which is more than double the pre-crisis norm.

However, when aging, 180-plus delinquencies were taken out of the equation, a new TransUnion analysis found the delinquency rate would actually be around 1 percent. 

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/transunion-long-cure-foreclosure-timeline...

The delinquency rate for mortgages on one-to-four unit residential properties grew 16 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013 even as the nation’s foreclosure inventory rate dropped to 3.55%, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. 

Mortgages in this category reached a seasonally adjusted delinquency rate of 7.25% of all loans outstanding in the first quarter – a rate that is still down 15 basis points from a year ago, MBA concluded in its National Delinquency Survey.

http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/05/09/mortgage-delinquency-rate-ris...

Oklahoma City foreclosure activity increases 11 percent from year ago.  One in every 1,116 Oklahoma City housing units had a foreclosure filing in April, below the national average and ranking No. 105 nationwide among all metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more (209 total).  Oklahoma City documented 480 properties with foreclosure filings in April, down 10 percent from March, but up 11 percent from April 2012.

The annual increase in overall Oklahoma City foreclosure activity was driven largely by an increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions (up 63 percent) and bank repossessions (up 72 percent). Foreclosure starts in Oklahoma City decreased 65 percent during the same time period.

http://www.realtytrac.com/content/foreclosure-market-report/oklahoma-foreclosure-auctions-reach-18-month-high-in-april-7715

A California man, accused of operating one of Cleveland's largest foreclosure scams, refused Wednesday to accept a plea deal on corruption charges following an exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation.

Marc Tow, 62, was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on Aug. 22, 2012 following a series of reports that aired on NewsChannel5 linking him to what prosecutors called one of the largest foreclosure scams in Ohio.

With full-fledged sellers' markets underway in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for six months, 12 months or more with no takers.

As some of them try to redo their loans and stay in their homes, there are complaints that banks aren't complying with California's recently enacted Homeowner Bill of Rights or the provisions of a National Mortgage Settlement with five major lenders.

"The banks need to do a better job of honoring the settlement and the Homeowner Bill of Rights," said Kevin Stein of the California Reinvestment Coalition.

The coalition released a survey of 84 housing counselors and legal service lawyers which found that homeowners are "continuing to face a plethora of servicing problems," many of which were supposed to be fixed by the mortgage settlement.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_23006295/bay-area-foreclosures-shrinking-but-bank-practices-criticized

While it's a smart time to put ad dollars to use, some critics say that these real estate commercials are skirting a larger responsibility to actually educate people about what's happening in the housing market. Now's the time, they say, because people could be jumping back into homebuying based on the louder and louder message that housing is back -- without knowing what they're doing any better than they did years ago. (But of course it is advertising -- which by its nature is meant to make us want stuff we don't necessarily need or can afford.)

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/real-estate-commercials-homebuying-rea...