mortgages

Rates on 30-year mortgages sank for a fourth straight week, falling below 6 percent for the first time since early October, and are heading lower due to the government's massive new effort to aid the U.S. housing market.

Almost 90 percent of homeowners in a California town owe more on their mortgages than the houses are worth.

Merrill Lynch couldn’t escape the housing crash as record waves of homeowners defaulted on their mortgages.

The FDIC and Treasury are in negotiations on a $600 billion package to guarantee mortgages and in turn, perhaps spur lending.

NEW YORK - Nearly one in five U.S. mortgage borrowers owe more to lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate may soon approach one in four as housing prices fall and the economy weakens...

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is expanding its program to modify mortgages in an effort to avoid foreclosures on up to $70 billion in loans.

The Bush administration is finalizing a plan that could help up to three million homeowners pay their mortgages, people briefed on the proposal said.

The government is preparing to unveil a plan as soon as Thursday guaranteeing around 3 million mortgages to troubled homeowners, sources briefed on the matter said.

Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five weeks.

The head of the FDIC said Thursday the government can use its new emergency authority from Congress to help struggling homeowners overhaul mortgages by giving banks an incentive to modify the loans.