According to its own estimates, the FDIC will sustain losses exceeding $36 billion to cover the ""140 bank failures in 2009.

Record-low interest rates have helped to boost home sales, shrink inventories, and bring a hint of stabilization to housing markets across the country, but they're beginning to rise, with rates for some conventional mortgage products up more than a quarter of a percentage point within the past month.

A substantial number of homeowners are still facing foreclosure, and some are often desperate for help but don't know where to turn.

Home sales in the Phoenix area fell 6.7 percent in November compared to October, according to a recent report by DataQuick, a provider of real estate news and custom data. However, November's 8,544 total sales were the highest for the month since November 2006.

In an announcement Friday, OwnACondo.com said it has capitalized on the growing popularity of auctions as a preferred method of real estate sales and has purchased the domain RealEstateAuctions.com.

Consumer loan delinquencies fell in seven loan categories in the third quarter of 2009 but not in the housing category, according to the American Bankers Association's (ABA) Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. This marks the first time since 2007 that so many loan categories experienced declines.

In its third quarter Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said as of November 30, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac implemented 405,700 trial and permanent loan modifications under the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and refinanced 4 million loans.

The nation's housing market continues to be dominated by foreclosures, and the discounted price tags of these properties are attracting strong interest from many potential homebuyers.

On Wednesday, a U.S. District Judge in Maryland granted Wells Fargo's motion to dismiss in a suit brought against the bank by the city of Baltimore, alleging Wells Fargo's lending practices led to hundreds of foreclosures and cost the city millions of dollars in taxes.

Lake Forest, California-based Real Estate Systems has announced the launch of its Accelerated Management Platform (AMP).