WASHINGTON -- The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4 percent this week, nearly matching the all-time low hit just one month ago. Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped from 4.10 percent last week. Four weeks ago, it dropped to 3.94 percent -- the lowest rate ever, according ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac has requested $6 billion in additional aid after posting a wider loss in the third quarter. Freddie Mac said Thursday that it lost $6 billion, or $1.86 per share, in the July-September quarter. That compares with a loss of $4.1 billion, or $1.25 a share, in ... Continue Reading »

This may fall under the category of "too much of a good thing," but there is growing sentiment that the historically low interest rates on mortgages are actually fueling the stagnation of the housing market. By keeping rates low, the hope was that more people would be motivated to buy homes. And when that didn't happen, ... Continue Reading »

Pearl and Bud Crispell hit the road in their RV the day after they retired in 1976. And for decades, that's where they stayed, living in their 40-foot motor home and traversing the country at will. But, as is the eventual story of all road warriors, the day came when they hit the proverbial dead end. Unable to manage ... Continue Reading »

Don't cry for him Argentina, for the truth is he never visited you anyway. Gazillionaire Larry Ellison has listed his Woodside, Calif., property at $19 million, which is a few million less than he reportedly paid in 2005. Sorry, we're still not crying here; Forbes puts his wealth at about $33 billion, so this is chump ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Sales of new homes rose in September after four straight monthly declines, largely because builders cut their prices in the face of depressed demand. Analysts say the modest increase on the back of reduced prices suggests the struggling housing market is years away from a turnaround. The Commerce ... Continue Reading »

Let's hold off blaring the triumphant trumpets just yet for President Obama's plan to allow holders of underwater loans to refinance at a lower rate through revisions in the Home Affordable Refinance Program. What this change does is amend the loan-to-value ratio in a refinance. By removing the cap on how upside-down you ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Seeking to circumvent congressional opposition, President Barack Obama will promote a series of executive branch steps aimed at jumpstarting the economy this week, beginning with new rules to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages. An administration official said the housing ... Continue Reading »

By S. Mitra Kalita The foreclosure crisis may be making Americans sick. A study published online yesterday in the American Journal of Public Health surveyed nearly 2,500 homeowners over the age of 50 who were asked if they had fallen more than two months behind on their mortgage payments since 2006. Of those who ... Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS -- Mitt Romney came to the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation and said he wants to allow home foreclosures to "hit the bottom" to help the housing industry recover. In an interview published Tuesday ahead of presidential debate, Romney told the Las Vegas Review Journal's editorial board that ... Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON -- Homes were built in September at the fastest pace in 17 months, a hopeful sign for the economy. Most of the gain was driven by a surge in volatile apartment construction, which helps boost economic growth. But other data suggest a housing recovery is far off. Single-family home construction, which ... Continue Reading »

When it comes to the housing crisis, it's not what the GOP candidates have said but what they're not saying. The housing and foreclosure crisis has been pretty much invisible in the presidential race, playing stepchild to the issue of what to do about all those unemployed people and the pesky fact that nobody is ... Continue Reading »

"Why won't the bank just reduce the amount of my loan instead of taking my home and then selling it to someone else for way less than I would have been happy to pay?" It's a question that gets asked repeatedly these days, especially by people who are facing foreclosure or are upside down on their mortgages. ... Continue Reading »

By Arthur Delaney ALAMOGORDO, N.M. -- From next to the dead tree in his backyard, Ernie Soto can see the big house where he used to live. It's perched on the side of a mountain overlooking Alamogordo, a town of 36,000 on the eastern edge of New Mexico's Tularosa Basin. In 2007 Soto moved downhill to a smaller ... Continue Reading »

Finally, a bit good news in the housing market. October's NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, released today, is up four points -- the biggest jump in a year and a half. The index, which measures homebuilders' confidence in the health of the single-family home market, is an indication that, in some places at least, ... Continue Reading »