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Mortgage rates jumped dramatically this week amid a sell-off of all kinds of bonds, according to data released Thursday.

Changing the face of foreclosure in America will take some time, several state attorneys general said Wednesday, cautioning that an agreement with major lenders over revamped foreclosure practices was not imminent. "We want to move as quickly as possibly but it has to be done right," said Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina. "We have plowed this ground before."Ever since the law enforcement officials from all 50 states signed on last month to a highly publicized investigation of big mortgage lenders, there has been a public tug of war.

The number of U.S. homes taken over by banks fell 9 percent in October as foreclosure processing was stalled by questionable paperwork, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

The jump from the previous quarter is the first time the measure has increased since early 2009, according to data from MDA DataQuick. However, the numbers are down from the same period last year.

Shares were down after a disappointing report on home prices. Traders also took in a mixed batch of earnings in the United States and Europe.

The housing and mortgage markets aren't likely to improve much over the next year, which will make it harder for the government to reduce its support of the sector, Freddie Mac's chief executive said on Monday.

The Federal Reserve chairman says the review is 'seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures.'

Sales of previously owned homes rose more than expected in September, an industry group said on Monday, indicating the housing market was stabilizing at weaker levels.

Bank of America for the first time acknowledged finding some mistakes in foreclosure files as it begins a thorough review of 102,000 cases.

That figure, projected through 2013, represents a worst-case scenario that assumes a double-dip recession, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says. The finance giants have so far received about $148 billion in taxpayer funds.