July 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home prices had the smallest annual drop in 10 months, signaling the free fall of property values is abating in the three-year housing slump at the center of a global recession.

Prices declined 5.6 percent in May from a year earlier and rose 0.9 from April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said today. Economists expected a 0.2 percent drop for the month, according to the median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

“We saw a rebound of home prices in some parts of the country in part because the share of distressed sales dipped,”... Read more

Fed says more banks tighten home loan standards

By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer
http://www.sacbee.com/830/story/1832585.html


WASHINGTON -- A larger share of banks has made it more difficult for people to obtain home mortgages over the last three months even as demand has grown, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

The Fed’s new quarterly survey found that about 50 percent of U.S. banks tightened their lending standards on prime mortgages, up from about 45 percent in the survey issued in early February.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of ban... Read more

Article from RISMedia.com:
Could New Stimulus Plan Actually Cost You Money?

Posted By Paige On April 20, 2009 @ 3:57 pm In Today’s Marketplace, Today’s Top Story - Consumer | Comments Disabled

[1]RISMEDIA, April 21, 2009-(MCT)-Wage earners beware: One of the federal government’s new tax breaks, designed to put more take-home pay in your wallet now, may take a bite out of your wallet next spring. Under certain conditions, the extra cash you’ve started seeing in your paychecks could shrink your refund or boost the size of the check you have to write when you fi... Read more