Things have been heating up this week!  Temperatures across the country have set records.  In fact, this year has seen some cities set all time high temperatures.  Compared with winter 2011, it has truly been an extraordinary year for extreme temperatures.

Meanwhile, regulators in Washington D.C. are turning up the heat on banks that are still “robo-signing” mortgages – if you can believe that practice is still going on.  The practice exacerbates an already fragile housing market by creating foreclosures around “questionable” paperwork. In investigations, Reuters and The Associated Press found that loan servicers have “filed thousands of documents that appear to have been fabricated or improperly altered, or have sworn to false facts.”  This is a heat wave (of a different sort) that seems to keep going.

News also broke that housing starts and building permits increased more than expected in June, which may be the reason that home builder confidence is rising.  Now this is a kind of “wave” I’d like to see!

The price is not right. An article on The New York Times Bucks blog discusses a recent Zillow survey that found many property owners who bought after 2007 are in denial about their home’s value and on average, are overpricing domiciles by 14{0a8e414e4f0423ce9f97e7209435b0fa449e6cffaf599cce0c556757c159a30c}. Of course, location greatly affects a home’s value. To compare average home prices in your area with other cities and towns, check out Coldwell Banker’s 2011 Home Listing Report.

The price was right for one Texas man who purchased a “McMansion foreclosure worth $300,000 dollars for a mere $16 filing fee after he claimed “adverse possession” of the property. This law, from the 1800’s, was developed to keep abandoned properties from falling into disrepair as long as someone claimed legal obligation to upkeep the property for a period of time (usually 10 years).  His new neighbors are not pleased; would you be?

Check out CNN Money’s slideshow of frontrunners for America’s ugliest homes.  It is amazing to see what can be done with a little renovating to seemingly “ugly” homes.

Now from the inside looking out….The Wall Street Journal this week looked at the trend of homeowners installing giant pieces of glass in order to offer a view from every room through gigantic windows. Speaking of windows, check out these amazing views posted on MSN.

Finally, the American Space Shuttle program ended this week with the safe return of Atlantis.  What were your favorite memories of the Shuttle program?w