Mortgage Crisis

The Federal Reserve announced that 32% of loan applications were denied last year, and applications on the whole were down by a third from 2007.

Homeowners threatened with foreclosure are increasingly finding that a simple legal tactic is stalling the process.

The Congressional Oversight Committee tasked with looking into the economic crisis says in a new report that there is a continuing risk of banks holding onto troubled assets, including real estate. Minnesota Public Radio talks to noted experts.

James Surowiecki dispels the myth that banks are better off renegotiating mortgage then foreclosing.

Schadenfreude is a German concept that means "taking pleasure in the suffering of others." Columnist Meghan Daum is experiencing 'debtenfreude'; the pleasure in watching house flippers and McMansion builders fall to the economic downturn.

New census data released Weds. shows that fewer Americans moved this year than in any year since they started keeping track back in 1947.

General Growth Properties, the 2nd largest mall operator in the nation, declared bankruptcy this morning. The company was felled by mounting debt from short-term mortgages it used to expand its holdings.

Its political and financial leaders have long insisted that Canada was insulated from an American-style subprime mortgage crisis. However, a Globe & Mail study reveals that western Canada is facing an "alarming" rate of foreclosures.

The revitalization of downtown Los Angeles took another hit this week, as real estate firm Meruleo Maddox Properties Inc., the largest private landowner in the area, revealed that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection.

In a recent feature in Time Magazine called 'Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now,' no. 2 on the list is 'Recycling the Suburbs.'

With roughly 10,000 foreclosures in the last two years, Cleveland has been hit hard by the economic crisis.

If the government bails out banks, it also better put aside money for structural reform that ensures the proper valuation of property. According to Elena Panaritis, a housing market driven by speculation catalyzed the recession in the first place.

David Axelrod, senior White House aide to President Obama, announced this morning that the President is about to present a new plan for to halt foreclosures and stop falling real estate prices.

The latest figures show that one out of every 54 households were in foreclosure in 2008; analysts expect millions more foreclosures in the coming year.

The question is no longer how to improve the suburbs, says Allison Arieff, but what we're going to do with all the leftover buildings and unfinished sites.

The latest figures show a dramatic drop in housing starts across the United States -- a sign, according to Dean Baker, that builders are having trouble securing credit.

The Bush Administration's ideology of homeownership combined with a lack of oversight contributed significantly to the collapse of the housing market and the present economic crisis, according to this New York Times investigation.

With a record amount of commercial real-estate debt coming due, some of the country's biggest property developers have become the latest to go hat-in-hand to the government for assistance.

Vallejo, CA declared bankruptcy last spring, felled by fiscal mismanagement and falling property taxes. Cities around the country are looking to Vallejo's example as they teeter near the edge.