homes

The two biggest banks in the reverse mortgage business are getting out of it. Now, Bank of America and Wells Fargo accounted for less than half of the reverse mortgages in America, and other lenders are still writing them. But seniors in financial trouble should explore theses alternative ways to stay in their homes.

For nearly two years, economists and real estate experts have been on the lookout for the bottom of the housing market. That time is here, says Russell Price, a senior economist with Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company.

The deadly tornadoes that struck the South and Midwest in April, the devastating quake in Japan and concerns about terrorist reprisals after Osama bin Laden's death should serve as reminders to property owners: plan for the worst-case scenario.

A recent ruling by an Alabama judge, in the case of a beleaguered family facing foreclosure, is a test case for the banks: Now that judges are paying attention, will they be able to foreclose on many securitized mortgages?

The mortgage mess settlement proposal is a repudiation of the servicing industries' standard business practices. The agreement also reads as an indictment -- not just of the servicing industry, but also of law enforcement, regulators and Congress.

Yet another problem has begun surfacing in the documents banks have been using to foreclose on homes: false notarizations. Notaries have been attesting legally to signatures they didn't witness, sometimes by people who didn't actually sign, and it's adding to the tangled mess of ownership confusion.

In some parts of the U.S., the real estate market remains deep in recession. But even with housing prices sitting at multi-year lows, millions of houses remain empty, unable to attract buyers haunted by unemployment and a weak economy. As part of a new series, DailyFinance takes a look at one town near New York City that is still struggling with the effects of the great real estate bust.

Despite new federal laws designed to protect them, many tenants are caught up in foreclosure dramas as building owners struggle to keep their properties. If the real estate market doesn't improve soon, the problem could get even worse.

An explosion and fireball rocked San Bruno, Calif., destroying 53 homes and killing at least one person. The explosion apparently came from a high-pressure gas line. Fire shot hundreds of feet into the air at 6.15 pm local time Thursday, KTVU reported. More than 20 people were taken to hospital...

American homes are shrinking, as people downsize their costs and lives. After years of growth, the Census Bureau says the average size of a new home fell to 2,135 square feet in 2009 after peaking at more than 2,300 earlier in the decade. As it turns out, people have decided they don't really...