under water

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.

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.

One of the most disturbing aspects of the home foreclosure crisis is how much damage it has caused in minority communities. Activist group Committee for Responsible Lending finds black and Hispanic borrowers are twice as likely to have lost their homes.

What's most striking about the commercial real estate market is how quiet it is. "It's like a storm is brewing and it has everyone standing on the sidelines," says Bob Spratt, president of commercial real estate firm Hill Partners Inc. And that near silence is expected to continue until 2010, when...