The news came at the top of an already good week for home owners following news of extended low mortgage rates and a positive housing outlook for 2012.
Wall Street Journal (Developments): Fannie Mae: Outlook for Home Prices Rises Again
The consumer outlook for U.S. home prices improved again in January, extending a recent upward trend in housing market sentiment, according to mortgage market firm Fannie Mae. Views on the direction of the U.S. economy also continued to improve.

Bloomberg: Banks Paying Homeowners to Avoid Foreclosures
Banks, accelerating efforts to move troubled mortgages off their books, are offering as much as $35,000 or more in cash to delinquent home owners to sell their properties for less than they owe.

The New York Times: States Negotiate $26 Billion Agreement for Homeowners
After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly 2 million current and former American home owners. It’s part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses.
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***According to many analysts the US taxpayers will bailout the banks who will suffer minimal losses due to Hamp-assisted principal cuts occuring within the first year after foreclosure proceedings are finalized. Successful loan restructings then would turn a profit for the banks according to settlement terms based on incentive payments.
See also: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8220e886-58b2-11e1-9f28-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1mazfilTC