AP - The CEOs of some of the nation’s biggest homebuilding companies say the housing market appears to have stabilized.

AP - The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low, the ninth time that has happened in the last year. Even with the cheapest rates in history, the housing market remains depressed.

AP - The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low, the ninth time that has happened in the last year. Even with the cheapest rates in history, the housing market remains depressed.

AP - The desire to fatten year-end bonuses motivated a Credit Suisse executive and two of his employees to conspire to hide the deteriorating condition of the U.S.

AP - The desire to fatten year-end bonuses motivated a Credit Suisse executive and two of his employees to conspire to hide the deteriorating condition of the U.S. housing market in 2007 to keep the value of bonds based on subprime mortgages artificially high, authorities said Wednesday.

The Christian Science Monitor - President Obama fleshed out a new mortgage-relief plan Wednesday, saying the steps he outlines would “help millions of responsible homeowners” and the US economy.

AP - At Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, the conversation often centers on real estate. Once taboo details — home values and what people paid for their properties — are casually discussed, and there appears to be little shame in walking away from a mortgage or fighting the bank on a foreclosure.

AP - The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week for the first time this month, though it remained below 4 percent for the eighth straight week.

AP - Fewer people bought new homes in December. The decline made 2011 the worst year for new -homes sales on records dating back nearly half a century.

AP - The Illinois attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Standard & Poor’s of misleading investors by assigning its highest ratings to risky mortgage-backed investments during the years leading up to the crash of the housing market.