Housing Market | featured news

President Obama will use a campaign stop for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  to announce a new initiative to help support homeowners in states hit hardest by the housing crisis.

The U.S. Treasury said its foreclosure-prevention program has cut mortgage payments for about 947,000 households, at least temporarily.

About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody's Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few.

Depressed home values, poor credit and high debt shut millions out of the lowest mortgage rates.

The number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in January increased 15 percent from the same month last year, and a surge in cash-strapped homeowners who've fallen behind on mortgages could be on the way.

Uncle Sam is trying to get out of the business of running the U.S. mortgage market. The trick will be withdrawing support without toppling the nation's fragile housing recovery in the process.

Millions more Americans are facing financial security as a result of stabilizing home prices, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday, even though only about 66,000 people have benefited from permanent mortgage loan modifications aimed to prevent foreclosure, a figure that has resulted in a House panel investigation.

A forecasting gauge of existing-home sales rose in December, suggesting the housing market is steadying after sharp swings caused by a government tax credit.

The number of homes entering the first stage of foreclosure fell in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, MDA DataQuick says -- a sign that banks are working with delinquent borrowers.

Fewer Californians entered foreclosure during the last three months of the year as bailed-out banks appeared to step up their work with delinquent borrowers, according to data released this morning, although the number of homes taken back by banks rose slightly.

Home prices fell in November for the first time in seven months, according to a industry report released Tuesday.