Housing Market, Homebuyers | featured news

Banks have become so restrictive in making mortgages that many worthy homebuyers are being frozen out of the U.S. housing market, and lending practices are not likely to loosen any time soon, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Prospective home buyers tend to focus on a single number: the listed sale price. It's why they're often blindsided by the array of costs that come with buying a home.

The U.S. housing market welcomed a bigger share of first-time buyers and single women this past year.

The Senate vote unanimously on Wednesday to extend aid for jobless workers and broaden tax breaks for homebuyers and businesses in a bid to breathe life into the struggling US economy.