New programs, backed by federal funds, now are available to help people buy foreclosure homes across metropolitan Phoenix.

Many lenders...have been foreclosing on home builders whose projects have gone bust...but finding buyers is difficult, as home values remain under pressure.

Investors are rushing into stocks Monday as surprise increases in pending home sales and construction spending offered the latest signs that the economy is stabilizing.

Sure, there are great real estate deals to be had, if you know what you're doing.

Two steps: Second liens now covered by modification program; servicers must offer eligible borrowers principal reduction under Hope for Homeowners.

Falling home prices and rising unemployment are set to spread the pain.

With an industry on the ropes, analysts say more companies will join forces - some to grow, some just to survive.

One in every 40 houses in the Phoenix area had a foreclosure notice filed against it during the first quarter, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

March and first-quarter total filings were the highest monthly and quarterly totals on record. Repossessions fall 3%.

Quick revamps help spur sales

The U.S. housing sector won’t recover until summer 2010 and the residential construction sector won’t be back on its feet until 2011, the Portland Cement Association predicts.

Just over half of a new $4 billion federal housing program approved late last year will go to purchase and fix up foreclosed homes nationwide, a study released this week showed.

Unemployment is a bigger reason for missed mortgage payments than high interest rates, according to a study from the Boston Federal Reserve that raises questions about President Barack Obama's plan to stem foreclosures by modifying loans.

Foreclosures are fueling a new growth industry: Fixing up a home that a bank wants to put up for sale.

Lenders signaled their intention in March to foreclose on more than 10,000 Valley homes and other properties, the highest single-month total on record.

...There’s growing concern that the massive role taken by FHA to buoy the ailing mortgage market, could in fact lead to yet another taxpayer bailout.

The end may be in sight - and getting a better sense of when it's coming can help you make the smartest buying and selling decisions.

An interesting new analysis from Zillow.com contends that the Case-Shiller home price index may overstate home price declines by not adjusting for sales of previously foreclosed homes.

The number of troubled loans backed by the government's mortgage insurance program is rising as economic problems mount, and lawmakers are worried taxpayers will be stuck with the final bill.

Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate.

Census Bureau says sales of newly built homes rose nearly 5% in February. Analysts wary of long-term recovery.

Lenders saddled by a growing portfolio of foreclosed properties are selling homes for prices not seen in metropolitan Phoenix for a decade.

Hopes are rising that the housing market has finally hit bottom. In addition to better-than-expected home sales reports, many homebuilder stocks are surging.

HOPE for Homeowners has been a failure. But Congress thinks some tweaks will revive it.

The legislation takes $2 billion out of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund to bolster an existing program to allow homeowners rework or refinance their mortgages.

At the same time Wall Street is losing jobs and prestige, the nation's capital is gaining steam as it ramps up to fight the recession

Good news for renters as landlords are forced to offer discounts to keep their properties occupied

But BofA's huge effort to keep consumers in their homes does not necessarily offer safeguards against redefault

The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.