Real Estate | featured news

Contracts to purchase previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in February, suggesting a further pull back in sales as the housing market struggles to regain its footing.

New single-family home sales fell in February while prices jumped to their highest level in eight month, according to a government report on Friday that was the latest to paint a mixed picture of the housing market.

Bank of America Corp. is launching a pilot program that will allow homeowners at risk of foreclosure to hand over deeds to their houses and sign leases that will let them rent the houses back from the bank at a market rate.

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States dropped 0.9 percent in February, according to a report released Wednesday, lower than expected by economists. The disappointing number indicates that roughly five years after the housing bubble burst, the real estate market’s road forward remains bumpy. Many economists had thought with mortgage rates near record lows and the job market improving, existing home sales would rise, not decline.

U.S. home sales are gradually coming back. A mild winter and a stronger job market have helped boost sales ahead of the crucial spring buying season.

When we first met Lynn Szymoniak on 60 Minutes, she was losing her home. She blew the whistle on bank fraud, and now she's walking away with $18 million, read more about the illegal use of robosigning by banks.

Renters are paying more because the foreclosure crisis is adding to their ranks, which increases demand for apartments.

Bank of America said Friday it would reduce by about $100,000 the amount owed by as many as 200,000 underwater homeowners as part of the recently announced government foreclosure settlement with top mortgage servicers.

Banks are foreclosing on America's churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data.

Fannie Mae said it will request $4.6 billion more in government aid after posting a $2.41 billion fourth-quarter loss.