Housing Market, Real Estate | featured news

For homeowners trying to get reparations in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, it's been a hit-or-miss experience. This week, another group of Americans bruised in the housing bust will get payouts from the banks, money meant to help them get on their feet again, but the cash may prove disappointing for many.

home resales fell in May and the median sales price rose only because of a drop in sale of lower priced homes, casting a shadow on the country's nascent housing market recovery.

U.S. builders started work on more single-family homes in May and requested the most permits to build homes and apartments in three and a half years. The increase suggests the housing market is slowly recovering even as other areas of the economy have weakened.

Lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings against more U.S. homeowners in May, setting the stage for increases in home repossessions and short sales - scenarios that could further weigh down home values in coming months....

With each passing month, the foreclosure crisis continues to slowly burn. The Obama Administration keeps splashing water on it—massive remodifications, mortgage settlement cash, rental programs—hoping something will stick. On Friday, here at the Clinton Global Initiative, in Chicago, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and FHA Commissioner Carol Galante announced yet another: a program to pool together mortgage loans on the brink of default, and save them.

Average U.S. rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages this week fell to fresh record lows for the sixth straight week. Cheap mortgages continue to help boost prospects for home sales this year.

Mortgage debt continues to be a major issue in the United States, nearly six years after home prices peaked, according to a report released last week by online real estate site Zillow. Americans continue to owe more on their homes than they are worth.

Home prices edged higher for the second month in a row in March, suggesting prices are stabilizing as the housing recovery gains momentum.

Bank of America is testing a mortgage-to-lease program in four states. The idea: Instead of evicting homeowners who face foreclosure, it lets them stay as tenants and sells the homes to investors.

Nearly 1 in 3 homeowners with a mortgage in L.A. County owes more than the property is worth, new data show. These underwater loans hinder mobility and hurt prices because they tend to stymie the important move-up market.