housing bust

More than any other demographic, Latino homeowners were slammed by the mortgage crisis: Two-thirds of total Hispanic wealth in the U.S. evaporated from 2005 to 2009. But as the fastest growing demographic in the nation, they are also well positioned to power the housing rebound.

The twin demons of the housing market crash and the Great Recession have created historic wealth gaps among racial groups in America: The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households, and 18 times that of Hispanic households. The main culprit in minority wealth loss? The housing bust.

Sales of previously owned homes hit a six-month low in May, and overpriced inventory is a key factor. Though we all watched the real estate market crater, most sellers are still overpricing their homes, and the worst price optimists are the ones who bought after the housing bubble burst.

As President Obama took part in his first-ever Twitter-facilitated town hall, jobs and the economy were high on the agenda. In line with those themes, the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute held a little get-together of its own to outline 10 key facts about the recovery and what's really wrong with the economy.

Today's sluggish housing market has little margin for error: Make an ill-conceived or poorly researched home purchase now, and you'll almost certainly pay the price later. To avoid that, make sure you have the right answers to these three questions before you buy your next home.

Common sense suggests that as home prices decline, the property taxes based on their valuations ought to as well. But property taxes nationally are clicking higher. Why is this occurring? Several factors are at work -- and they bode ill for state budgets.

Las Vegas has always been a place of dreams, promising that pennies can turn into fortunes, cities can rise from the desert, and property values can rise without limit. But you can also lose your shirt there, and the real estate crash has hit Sin City harder than any other place in the country.

Investors often seek insight from the latest news, the most recent weekly and monthly data updates. But the underlying status of the economy is better reflected in long-term trends, and many of those show serious headwinds to future U.S. growth.

Banks are up in arms over language added to the proposed financial regulation overhaul that would make big financial firms shoulder some of the cost if government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go bust.