Modesto Real Estate

Home prices gained for the seventh consecutive month in December as Los Angeles and other cities on the West Coast posted the biggest rises, according to the closely watched index released Tuesday.

The Craigslist ad sounded too good to be true: Live rent-free in a vacant Dallas hotel.

WASHINGTON - The end of the foreclosure crisis is finally in sight. For the first time in almost three years, the number of homeowners falling behind on their loans is declining.

WASHINGTON - Facing millions of foreclosures and high unemployment, President Barack Obama on Friday announced a $1.5 billion fund to help unemployed homeowners and other struggling borrowers in a handful of states.

WASHINGTON - The end of the foreclosure crisis is finally in sight. For the first time in almost three years, the number of homeowners falling behind on their loans is declining.

WASHINGTON - Facing millions of foreclosures and high unemployment, President Barack Obama on Friday announced a $1.5 billion fund to help unemployed homeowners and other struggling borrowers in a handful of states.

The buyer's market continues for housing in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. That's a nice way of saying home prices plunged again in January. Stanislaus County's median home price dropped to $131,750, according to just- released sales statistics from MDA DataQuick. That's about the same amount homes sold for in spring of 2000.

The buyer's market continues for housing in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. That's a nice way of saying home prices plunged again in January. Stanislaus County's median home price dropped to $131,750, according to just- released sales statistics from MDA DataQuick. That's about the same amount homes sold for in spring of 2000.

Miami-Dade County's online foreclosure auction system kicked off last month with a goal to quickly move a chunk of foreclosed properties and open up the bidding process.

Miami-Dade County's online foreclosure auction system kicked off last month with a goal to quickly move a chunk of foreclosed properties and open up the bidding process.

The average rates offered by lenders on 30-year fixed-rate home loans fell to 4.93 percent this week from 4.97 percent the week before, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

The average rates offered by lenders on 30-year fixed-rate home loans fell to 4.93 percent this week from 4.97 percent the week before, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell slightly this week, dipping to less than 5 percent, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Average rates for traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have fallen below 5 percent again, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Prices and sales of previously occupied U.S. homes improved during the last three months of last year as low interest rates and a federal tax credit helped push buyers into the market, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Liv Mansfield is racing the clock, hoping to find and settle, or at least sign a purchase agreement, on a townhouse before the $6,500 tax credit for qualified repeat home buyers expires April 30.

Reeling from the recession's one-two-three-punch of job woes, climbing mortgage payments and evaporating equity, desperate homeowners are dipping into a nearby income stream to avoid foreclosure:

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LOS ANGELES - At 52, Ross Mandell is built like an aging wrestler, with veins the size of phone cords webbed across Popeye-like forearms. But when he recalls what happened last summer, the macho exterior melts away.

Stan and Karen Salbeck have been trapped in a foreclosure nightmare since 2007. "We're up to 31 months without making a payment on this house," Karen Salbeck said.
DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com Stan and Karen Salbeck have been battling to keep their home out of foreclosure causing them great stress and emotional turmoil, January 20, 2010. - Modesto Bee - Debbie Noda
DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com Karen Salbeck checks the computer daily for updates on foreclosure information on their home and other related information as her husband Stan looks over her shoulder, January 20, 2010. - Modesto Bee - Debbie Noda