housing prices

It's been a week of dreadful financial news in the U.S. Many people's instincts will tell them not to make any moves until the trouble blows over. But the best opportunity to significantly improve your financial footing often comes during the worst of the turmoil. Here are four areas in which even small steps, taken now, will help.

With the Standard & Poor's downgrades, the declining stock market, the flat employment figures and Europe's fiscal woes, you might not expect much optimism in the housing market just now. But a few major metropolitan areas should see price increases in the next year, according to a new report.

Even before the latest stock-market plunge, U.S. consumer confidence was already sliding downward, according to a Fannie Mae survey released Monday. Some 70% of respondents say the economy is heading in the wrong direction.

Companies with strong balance sheets and high dividends will be among the few safe investment harbors if the economy continues to cool -- and given today's conditions, it's hard to imagine how the recent stock market rally could last much longer. Here are five dividend stocks that should keep paying strong returns.

Christian broadcaster Harold Camping miscalculated in his prediction that the world was going to end on Saturday. But he's not the only one who thinks the Rapture could be nigh in the not-so-distant future. Which begs the question: Where will those who are left behind hang their hats?

Fewer Americans are having trouble paying their mortgages now compared to a year ago, according to a new survey. The bad news? Fewer Americans have mortgages. Some of those who were struggling last year have since sold or foreclosed.

Home prices in a majority of major U.S. cities tracked by a private trade group have fallen to their lowest levels since the housing bubble burst. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index fell in December from November in all but one of the 20 cities it tracks. The 20-city index declined 1...

Whether it was a fresh startup or a fresh start, fewer Americans seemed willing to take career risks last year, according to a new report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The percentage of job-seekers starting their own businesses or relocating for new positions fell to historic lows in 2010.

While home prices were falling last fall nearly nationwide, the pace of sales has picked up more recently. Overall, it seems clear that the worst of the housing debacle has passed. It's just that the U.S. remains on a slow, grinding track back to housing health.

Home prices are falling across most of America's largest cities, and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since the housing bust. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 1.6 percent in November from October. All but one...