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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.

A former real estate agent drove with the partially mummified body of a homeless woman in the passenger seat of her car for between three and 10 months, according to a report.

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.

Curtailing a moratorium sooner than expected, Bank of America said it would resume 102,000 foreclosures in 23 states where court approval is needed to go ahead.

Builders' mood gloomy; small gains come after worst summer for home sales in a decade

With one out of every 245 Minnesota housing units in foreclosure during September, news has broken that Wells Fargo, along with other big banks, may have helped push some homeowners off properties with the use of "robo signers."And the bank, with deep ties to Minnesota, has no intention of changing its ways.

A six-month decline in mortgage rates has spurred a surge in refinancing while doing little to increase property demand as US unemployment hovers near 10 percent.

The number of U.S. homes taken over by banks topped 100,000 for the first time in September, though foreclosures are expected to slow in coming months as lenders work through questionable paperwork, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Officials in 49 states have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.