FORECLOSURES

One in four counties in the U.S. are ”dying” – meaning, they are recording more deaths than births – according to findings by the U.S. Census Bureau.

U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure action haven't made a mortgage payment in an average of 17 months, compared to 11 months two years ago, and the time frame may increase, according to a USA Today report.

Many U.S. consumers have no choice and are held captive to home mortgage-related companies that are often aggressively fast, commit errors in paperwork and refuse to answer questions, and whose continuing problems are holding back the country's economic recovery, a top U.S. regulator said on Friday.

The Obama administration favors creating a national standard for mortgage servicers such as Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co that have been accused of botching home foreclosure procedures.

The Obama administration nailed a 'condemned' sign on the wrecked U.S. housing finance system on Friday but did not offer a clear blueprint for a rebuilding project that promises to take years.

Job growth still slow despite upward earnings, GDP growth

The number of empty houses in the U.S. is close to 20 million, Census shows

DR Horton Inc (DHI.N), the top U.S. homebuilder, reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss, citing an increase in home foreclosures, and lingering anxiety among homebuyers that contributed to a sharp drop

New home sales in the U.S. in December climbed to 329,000 on annual basis, official data showed on Wednesday, suggesting that the housing market remained moderately robust despite an unsustainable unemployment rate and high foreclosures.

Due to the dampening effects of the recession, migration within the U.S. crawled to its lowest rate in recorded history last year, potentially creating a ‘lost generation’ among Americans.

Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday.

After repossessing more than a record 1 million homes in the U.S., banks are now poised to foreclosure on even more properties in 2011, according to Realty Trac Inc.

Bank shares are weakening after the Massachusetts State Supreme Judicial Court upheld a decision that two foreclosures from U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) were not valid because the banks did not properly show they held the mortgages at the time of the foreclosure.

U.S. metropolitan areas which have suffered the steepest drops in housing prices are poised to endure long-term deterioration similar to how certain cities in the Rust Belt were permanently damaged by the decline of manufacturing.

Some economists are warning that housing prices in general could double-dip and the price declines may accelerate in 2011.

Home prices in 20 metropolitan cities in the US continued to fall in October with prices in six cities reaching new lows.

With the nation in the midst of a foreclosure crisis, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is shelling out $73 million in housing counseling grants to more than 500 national, regional and local organizations, so that they can help people stay in their homes or find new homes.

The U.S. home loan demand fell sharply in the week ended Dec.17, posting a decline for fourth straight weeks as the mortgage rates hit a six-month high.

Homebuilder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes remained unchanged in December from the previous month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

The foreclosure prevention program of the Obama’s administration is expected to aid far fewer homeowners than initially targeted, according to a report released on Tuesday.

U.S. homes are set to lose more than $1.7 trillion in value during 2010, bringing the total value lost since the market peaked in June 2006 to $9 trillion, which surpassed the cost of 12 Iraq wars, a report said.