housing slump

The mortgage finance giant, now under government conservatorship, recorded the loss as it wrote down a tax-related asset that had buoyed its capital and the housing slump worsened.

GMAC, the finance company partly owned by General Motors, lost $2.52 billion in the quarter, hurt by the housing slump and vehicle lease write-downs, and said that its mortgage unit may not survive.

Barack Obama’s presidential election victory comes with an albatross of a prize — an economy beset by a stubborn housing slump and the worst financial crisis in 70 years.

More existing homes were sold last month than had been sold a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported.

This doesn’t mean the housing slump is over, or even close to being over.

A real estate trade group says sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September.

The data is a possible glimmer of hope that the housing slump could be starting to bottom out.

KB Home says its third-quarter loss quadrupled from a year-ago period helped by hefty gains on the homebuilder's now-discontinued French operations, and missed Wall Street expectations.

Lennar Corp. says its third-quarter loss narrowed as it cut costs, but revenue fell by more than half amid a prolonged housing slump.

Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, said Tuesday its third-quarter loss narrowed as it cut costs, but revenue fell by more than half amid a prolonged housing slump.

Freddie Mac's chief executive tried to reassure shareholders Friday that the mortgage finance company's fortunes will improve, after a year in which its share price was sliced by more than 60 percent amid a prolonged housing slump.

"Things are beginning to improve, but the availability of affordable mortgages is uneven around the country and sometimes within metropolitan areas"