For the eighth straight consecutive month, national foreclosure activity in the U.S. was dominated by a small set of states.

As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of October’s foreclosure-related activity came from just 4 states:

California Florida Illinois Michigan

The remaining Top 10 states in terms of total foreclosure activity included Arizona, [...]

Despite the economy’s improvement and prodding from Congress, banks don’t seem ready to open their purse strings just yet.

Nationally, mortgage approval standards are tightening.

The data comes from a quarterly survey the Federal Reserve sends to its member banks. The Fed asks senior bank [...]

Consider this a last call for FHA Streamline Refinances. Starting next Tuesday, the popular rate-lowering program gets strict on borrowers.

There’s 5 days left.

Under the current streamline refi guidelines, FHA homeowners have minimal program eligibility requirements.

FICO scores must be 620 or higher The refinance must provide a “tangible benefit” No mortgage lates allowed [...]

It’s November. The official start of winter is 6 weeks away. For homeowners with ceiling fans, let this be a reminder to reverse your units’ blade rotation.

Watch this 2-minute video for a hands-on demonstration of changing the direction of your ceiling fans, plus a clever test using ordinary tissue [...]

Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday.

The White House says the President will sign it into law today.

The up-to-$8000 tax credit’s expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010, and to be closed by June 30, [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy “has continued to pick up” since the September FOMC meeting and that housing market activity has [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee caps off a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in the nation’s capital, its 8th meeting of the year.

The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET and, as is customary, will issue a press release reviewing its monetary policy and the health of the U.S. economy.

The FOMC’s post-meeting statements are [...]

The housing market continues to steam forward.

As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, the Pending Home Sales Index posted its 8th consecutive monthly gain in September.

It’s the longest winning streak in the history of the index and Pending Home Sales are now at [...]

According to the United States Fire Administration, there were an estimated 1.5 million domestic fires last year, resulting in more than 3,400 deaths.

Many of these deaths occurred in homes with no smoke detectors or no working smoke detectors.

When detectors fail, it’s often because [...]