Last decade's bipolar housing market is over. The ups, the downs, the thrills, the spills -- largely behind us. Yes, prices and sales are stuck in neutral in large swaths of the country. But let's ring in the new decade optimistically, with Walletpop's Top 10 List of the Best Places to Buy a Home...

Just in time for the holidays, more lousy news on the jobs front: The U.S. economy added only a tepid 39,000 jobs in November, far fewer than expected, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%, the Department of Labor reports today. That rate is up from 9.6%. Today's report is a far, and...

In a housing market convulsed by tight credit, flattened prices and weak home sales, there is a silver lining for one segment of the market: U.S. military veterans seeking V.A. home loans. Most honorably discharged veterans are eligible for Department of Veteran Affairs home loans. What's the...

Historically, buying a home has been advantageous for both owners and the country at large. Long considered the engine that drives the American economy, home ownership brings huge rewards to banks, mortgage companies and builders, and the building industry provides tons of jobs. Home ownership...

The American dream of homeownership is slipping further away, as the country's economic woes drag on. Almost 3 million fewer Americans own homes today, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report, compared with the peak in the first quarter of 2005, when 69.1% owned homes. The reason for the...

Buyers still waiting for home prices to scrape rock bottom (hint: they will never return to1953 levels) or interest rates to hit zero (I know, it feels like they're headed there) might want to consider that conditions for buying a home are better today than at any time in recent memory. The...

October heralds the onset of fall, bringing burnished leaves and cooler temperatures. It also is the beginning of fire season in Southern California and other parts of the Southwest (although fire season seems to be a year-round event now). Insurance experts say this is the time to take an...

With interest rates on 30-year mortgages hitting yet another record low this week -- 4.27%, according to Freddie Mac -- it makes sense to rush out and buy a home, right? Maybe not. New York-based real estate research firm Reis Inc. reported Thursday that a surge of renters in the third quarter...

Rates for 30-year mortgages broke another record for the week ending today, dropping to an average 4.27% from 4.32% a week ago, according to Freddie Mac. That marks the lowest rate since 1971, when the mortgage-finance giant started tracking such data. The rates sank far below last year's 4.87%....

There's a reason celebrities and just about everyone else want to drop anchor on Southern California's coast. Miles of sun-bleached beaches, year-round great weather, and now, more affordable homes beckon those with cash to spare. Keep in mind, however, that "affordable" in Malibu isn't the same...