The news agencies report the the U.S. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner is having serious difficulties for selling his house and has put it on a rent.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) estimates that one million new foreclosures have been filed so far in 2009. The news comes on the heels of the release of the first quarter 2009 National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) which reveals that 12 percent of all mortgages are now delinquent, the highest level in the 37 years the MBA has been measuring delinquency rates.

A recent spike in mortgage rates has slowed the number of applicants applying for mortgage refinancing. In the past several weeks rates have gone from as low as 4.75% to higher than 4.91% at the end of business last week. This rate increase has cooled what was a hot mortgage refinancing market. With the opportunity to lower mortgage rates consumers were left with more cash in hand at the end of every week, driving up consumer spending and fueling the market across the board.

According to the California Association of Realtor (C.A.R.), for the first time in recorded history almost 70% percent of first-time home buyers can actually afford to purchase a home in California. In some areas, the affordability number is approaching 90 percent.

The foreclosure crisis continues to affect increasing numbers of homeowners in the United States, driven by such factors as rising unemployment. Lenders are also suffering the effects of the foreclosure crisis, and having to deal with uncertainties in the credit market that could lead to still further losses. The federal government is seeking to find ways to ease the current economic stress, and recently passed new legislation in hopes of helping recovery come sooner.

According to a report about Trulia, published in yesterday's AG Mag, Trulia.com is displaying some discrepency when showing real estate and foreclosure properties in terms of prices.

You know the recession is for real when rappers have been forced to cut back on their purchases of bling (or “bling bling” if you prefer.) According to the WSJ*, a brutal combination of a deepening recession coupled with plummeting music sales have forced aspiring hip-hop moguls to downsize from diamond encrusted baubles to faux-ice. Real home discounts may still be on the way.

Costa Rica is quickly becoming one of the top growing Caribbean vacation spots with its vacation rentals and all inclusive rather cheap family vacation opportunities.

While fans' attention is on last night's American Idol winner Kris Allen, we would like to go back to another winner's story who has been hit heart by the economic recession and foreclosed house.

According to Real Estate Professionals and most of the major indices, the beleaguered housing market has finally hit the bottom or is only weeks away from being at the bottom of the market.

On May 12th, 2009, the National Association of Realtors brought out an exciting benefit for Realtors - a limited medical insurance program. REALTORS Core Health Insurance provides affordable, attainable health programs for NAR members between the ages of 18 and 65.

The aftermath of the financial crisis is that it torpedoed home values, sent mammoth financial institutions into the poor house, and drove unemployment numbers toward the double digits. The government, for its part, has taken increasingly drastic steps to put the real estate market right again, to mixed effect. From rock bottom interest rates to massive loan modification programs to tax credits to entice first time homebuyers, we’ve seen a lot of effort from Uncle Sam.