Appraisals

Prices of single-family homes in Santa Cruz County, Calif., soared to new records in May as the number of sales shrank.

The median price of a single-family home in Marin County, Calif., hit a new high in May to $1.25 million.

In summer 2007, the Los Angeles County median home price hit an all-time high of $550,000. It soon plunged as the housing bubble burst and the national economy crashed.

Defaults on first-lien mortgages fell 5 basis points in May from the previous month, dropping to their lowest level in a year, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Index.

The market for existing-home sales underperformed its potential by 3.8% because of the inventory shortage, according to First American Financial Corp.

While home prices have increased sharply in expensive coastal cities, plenty of urban centers are lagging behind.

Comerica Bank will invest up to $5 million in Detroit Home Mortgage, which provides second mortgages to buyers so they can get past the city's appraisal gap problem.

The number of homes sold in Northeast Florida rose last month, and so did the price they sold for.

LendingTree has added property valuation data to its My LendingTree site, showing consumers how much equity in their home they can tap.

The average Chicago property tax bill is going up about 10% this year following City Hall and Chicago Public Schools tax hikes to pay for police, fire and teacher pensions.