Economy, Real Estate | featured news

Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low.

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.

Relishing a political victory, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Congress "did the right thing" by extending payroll tax cuts for millions of Americans. He urged lawmakers to push forward on more measures, from assistance to struggling homeowners to increased taxes on the wealthy, saying the looming election was no excuse for inaction in Washington.

Fewer people bought new homes in December. The decline made 2011 the worst year for new-homes sales on records dating back nearly half a century. The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell 2.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy.

The economy seems to have picked up in the second half of the year. But apparently no one told the housing market. Home prices continued to fall in October, even as sales of existing homes picked up and homebuilders applied for more permits. After stabilizing this summer, prices fell at a 7.5 percent annual rate in the three months ending in October, according to the latest data from CoreLogic, a real estate research firm.

Sales of new homes fell for the third straight month in July, a sign that housing remains a drag on the economy. If the current pace continues, 2011 would be the worst year for new-home sales in nearly half a century....

U.S. mortgage rates dropped to new lows after the latest round of gloomy economic data hurt Treasury yields, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.

With supply of timeshares exceeding demand, owners, unable to afford fees in a struggling economy, are forced to sell their vacation properties at rock-bottom prices.

The number of American households behind on mortgage payments posted a substantial decline from year-earlier levels, but foreclosures remained near record highs in the first quarter.