Foreclosures boom among former most-creditworthy  - www.livingstondaily.com 

A record number of borrowers once judged the most creditworthy are heading into foreclosure as the job market leaves more homeowners unable to keep up with mortgage payments.

Fort Myers-Cape Coral 2nd nationwide in 2010 foreclosures  - www.winknews.com 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Households across a majority of large U.S. cities received more foreclosure warnings in the first six months of this year than in the first half of 2009, new data shows.

2Q home sales up 20% from ’09  - www.newhavenregister.com 

Single-family home sales in Greater New Haven jumped 20 percent in the second quarter of the year, compared with a year ago, but that reflected the final weeks of federal homebuyer tax credits that have since expired and won’t provide similar boosts going forward.

US bailouts prevented 1930s-style Great Depression says new study  - www.guardian.co.uk 

New study by economists Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder says US economic stimulus averted a worse downturn To Washington conservatives they were egregious examples of "big government" overreach, but the White House's economic stimulus and bailout policies have saved 8.5m jobs and averted a further slump of 6.5% in US economic output, according to a study by two influential economists. An in-depth ...

Home owning dream realized for James City woman  - www.dailypress.com 

The Peninsula Habitat for Humanity broke ground on its 118th home in James City. — Even before the foundation was laid and the first walls of her new home were erected, Kecia Jones-Fikes was giving guided tours to family and friends Wednesday on the spray-painted outline on the land where she would reside later this year with her two daughters.

Some Fiscal Panel Members Eye Tax Breaks  - blogs.wsj.com 

At the latest meeting of the president's fiscal-responsibility commission, members of both parties expressed strong interest in seeking to limit the tax breaks that benefit many industries and individuals, which policy wonks lump together as tax expenditures.

House prices fall by 0.5%, says Nationwide  - www.guardian.co.uk 

Annual rate of house price inflation has dropped to 6.6% compared to 8.7% in June, a Nationwide report shows, and the outlook remains bleak House prices fell in July for the first time since February, reducing the average price of a UK property to £169,347 from £170,111 last month, according to latest figures from the Nationwide building society . The 0.5% monthly fall now means the annual rate ...

Hometrack survey shows house prices fell 0.1% in July  - www.guardian.co.uk 

• First decline in house prices in 15 months – Hometrack • Markit/YouGov survey shows households more pessimistic • National Housing Federation warns on affordable housing There is further evidence that the housing recovery is running out of steam in a survey published today showing that prices dipped during July, the first decline in 15 months according to the property data specialist Hometrack ...

Real Estate Bonds Entice Goldman as Ford Sells: Credit Markets  - www.businessweek.com 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are attempting to sell the fourth offering of securities backed by commercial mortgages this year as investor sentiment rises toward everything from company bonds to loans.

U.K. July House Prices Decline as Confidence Wanes  - www.businessweek.com 

U.K. house prices fell in July for the first time in five months as tighter lending conditions and concern that government cuts will slow economic growth deterred potential home buyers, Nationwide Building Society said.