Housing Market | featured news

Bank of America reported Friday that it had a $1.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter of last year, including a previously announced charge of $2 billion reflecting a decline in the value of its home loans and insurance business.

Builders began work last year on the second fewest number of homes in more than half a century, as the weak economy kept people from buying houses.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. has overcharged thousands of military families for their mortgages, including families of troops fighting in Afghanistan, NBC News has learned.

Home prices have now fallen farther from their peak than they did during the Great Depression. Since 2006, the average home price has fallen 26%, according to Zillow.com. That’s a greater percentage than the 25.9% drop registered from the plunge that helped kick off the Great Depression from 1928-1933.

Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday.

In a ruling that may affect foreclosures nationwide, the Massachusetts high court has voided the seizure of two homes by Wells Fargo & Company and US Bancorp after the banks failed to show that they held the mortgages at the time of the foreclosures.

The National Association of Realtors said the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in November. The index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes increased by 3.

For generations now, our national values have placed an emphasis on home ownership. Renters were the people who were rootless or just not being quite ready to "settle down." As home ownership has become less of a financial asset and more of a liability over the last few years, there has been a shift in the very fabric of what renting means in our society.

New data reveals home prices in America's biggest cities are on a downward trend that could last through next year — making it more likely the housing market will face another downturn and threaten the overall economy.Inflation Helps Boost Value of Tax DeductionsYOU DECIDE: Have You Saved Enough?

Allstate Corp has sued Bank of America Corp and 18 other defendants over losses it said it suffered on more than $700 million of mortgage debt it bought from Countrywide Financial Corp.