The Federal Housing Finance Agency laid out new rules aimed at speeding up the short sale process, a move that could keep many homes from falling into foreclosure. In a short sale, the bank that holds the mortgage must agree to accept a

The former chief executive of Fannie Mae, in a rare public appearance Friday, argued that government policies weren’t the main cause of the housing bust, and that the government shouldn’t stop pushing to expand home ownership.

A key measure of home prices in the nation's biggest cities fell in February, indicating that the housing market remained weak at the start of the year. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 American cities dropped 0.8%

The number of U.S. home short sales surpassed foreclosure deals for the first time as banks became more agreeable to selling houses for less than the amount owed on their mortgages, according to Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS)