Fifty-four percent of homeowners who received foreclosure counseling through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program reported reduced or loss of income as the primary reason they were facing foreclosure, according to an announcement Thursday by NeighborWorks America, administrator of the NFMC program.

HOPE NOW announced Thursday the initial launch of its HOPE LoanPort, a new web portal that will give HUD-approved housing counseling agencies the ability to submit completed Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) applications for borrowers facing foreclosure.

Emeryville, California-based HomeGain, a provider of online marketing solutions that connect real estate agents and brokers with homebuyers and sellers, released the results of its fourth quarter Home Prices Survey of Realtors on Thursday. According to the survey, which was based on responses of 928 real estate agent and brokers across the United States, most respondents believe home prices will either stay the same or increase in the next six months.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the conference report for H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) is soliciting pre-applications for funding under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), and the agency is anticipating that up to $1.3 million will be available.

According to an analysis of the two most recent Real Estate Market Reports by Seattle-based Zillow, home value losses in the United States seem to be stabilizing.

As of December 1, 2009, 22 percent of homes currently on the market in the United States have experienced at least one price cut, according to report released Wednesday by San Francisco-based Trulia, Inc.

According to the most recent Housing Inventory Index by ZipRealty, a national real estate brokerage based in Emeryville, California, November marked the 17th consecutive month of declining housing inventory across the nation.

In recent data released by Farmington Hills, Michigan-based GreenPath Debt Solutions, a nonprofit consumer credit counseling service, the company found there is an increasing amount of Michigan homeowners facing mortgage delinquency.

In an announcement Wednesday, Central Pacific Bank said it had decided to exit the West Coast market and wind down its California loan operations, a decision made in an effort to focus on its core business in Hawaii.