Gov’t Scorecard Finds 2012 Off To A Strong Start

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released their March housing scorecard,which compiles key housing market data and the results of the government’s recovery efforts. And though the report still finds fragility in the market, it also shows that home sales are off to their strongest start since 2007, after upwardly revised January numbers and a solid February for existing-home sales. Also, mortgage delinquency rates continue to fall and are substantially below last year’s levels. And, according to the scorecard, the administration’s recovery efforts have started more than 5.8 million mortgage modification arrangements since April 2009, including 1.8 million HAMP trial modifications.