Free Republic

New foreclosures may be back to nearly normal, but the mess from the epic housing disaster in the last decade is far from gone. Bank repossessions, the final stage of the foreclosure process, jumped 66 percent year over year in the third quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure sales and analytics company. It's the largest annual rise ever recorded in bank repossessions by RealtyTrac. More than 123,000 homes went back to the bank in just three months. "In states such as New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York, a flood of deferred distress from the last housing crisis...

Need assistance from the FRpeer Nation out there. I have a dear friend whose son has lost his job and will have to relocate to take a new job. This person owns a home and has a family. The deal: the market here is in terrible condition and there is little if any hope of selling his home. He has considered walking away from the mortgage. Just pick up and tell the mortgage company what is going on and that he is simply leaving, here is the house, come and get it. Then rent on the other end. My friend...

WASHINGTON — US home prices have sunk below levels seen during the "Great Recession," according to data revealed Tuesday, sparking renewed pessimism about a key pillar of the spluttering economic recovery. Unless you are selling a house in Washington or buying one in Minnesota there is little cause to celebrate the state of the US housing sector. Despite ultra-low borrowing rates, experts say a steady flow of repossessed homes onto the market, tighter bank lending rules and high unemployment have kept prices at rock bottom.