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Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/125049
month in review The industry recognizes the positive gains, but is still cautious about being overly optimistic. While the 2014 price increase is anticipated to track at a slower pace than this year's, the rate is still well above previous projections, according to the survey. APRIL 19 Price Gains Unsustainable According to some analysts, Americans should proceed cautiously when making definitive decisions about the recent housing market improvements. Fitch Ratings predicts the gains will slow and even reverse in the next year. Unemployment continues to be the dark cloud of the recovery, and Fitch points to the "key economic indicators" as being the major obstacle for sustainability. The lack of participation by the labor force is the real culprit, and the agency maintains that real prices are currently overvalued by 10 percent. APRIL 1 APRIL 22 Construction Spending Up in February Bank Failures Continue The Census Bureau released its numbers on construction spending at the beginning of April, and the data showed an uptick in spending in both public and private sectors. Annually, the Bureau found that construction spending rose by 7.9 percent in February, reaching an annual rate of $885.1 billion. The report found that combined, construction spending in the early part of the year totaled $120.1 billion, which compared to last year is 6.6 percent above what was spent in the same period of 2011. The year is still fairly new and already three banks failed in April, bringing the total to eight this year. The FDIC announced collapses of Chipola Community Bank in Florida, Heritage Bank of North Florida, and First Federal Bank in Lexington, Kentucky. The country hasn't seen this amount of bank shutterings since October 19, 2012. All three closures cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $50.2 million. APRIL 12 S&P Seeks to Dismiss Securities Suit Housing Growth Projections Increase Optimism is on the rise, according to analysts. A report released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young finds that market watchers all agree that the real estate market will improve as transaction volumes rise and vacancies decline. Analysts predict there will be a 50 percent increase in commercial mortgage-backed securities this year, with a year-end total of $70 billion. 16 | The M Report APRIL 23 Attorneys for Standard & Poor's (S&P) filed a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit from the federal government accusing the ratings agency of inflating ratings and misrepresenting the creditworthiness of certain securities. Attorney General Eric Holder announced in early February that the Department of Justice filed a complaint for defrauding investors in an attempt to gain more business. S&P fought fire with fire, but rescinded its suit.