Irvine, California's RealtyTrac recently announced a new agreement and strategic partnership with HomeFinder.com.

Winans International Investment Management and Research, which has measured U.S. new home prices from 1830 to the present day, says If history is a reliable guide, then we have entered the beginning of the end of this historic housing bear market.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have refinanced more than 2.9 million mortgage loans since the beginning of this year, according to a report released Thursday by the GSE's regulator.

Citigroup published its TARP Progress Report for the second quarter of 2009 this week, detailing the steps the company is taking to extend credit and support the housing market ̢ a move to answer lawmakers's and taxpayers's questions about how the bank is using its $45 billion bailout.

Another major mortgage insurer has beefed up its online information services to tackle the rising flow of residential defaults and foreclosures.

Mortgage Specialist International L.L.C. (MSI) has named Stacey Baumann VP of new business development.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C., a provider of legal services to the default servicing industry,announced Friday the hiring of a new associate attorney, Dennis J. Kamph.

Conditions in financial markets have improved and economic activity is leveling out, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his fellow central bankers said at the conclusion of their regular monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

Across the country,municipalities are tackling the housing crisis head-on by purchasing local foreclosed homes, rehabbing them into affordable housing, and selling them as part of community programs to revitalize neighborhoods.

In spite of recent positive signs in the housing market, the National Association of Home Builders announced a series of cost-cutting measures to help it cope with the downturn.