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Greg Allen | NPR | “It’s taken several years, but in many parts of the country, home prices are nearly back to where they were at the peak. In places like Florida, where the housing recession hit hard, home prices rose last year by one-fifth or more. A major factor in the price rise is hedgeRead more

Christina Sturgis | Tampa Bay Times Blog | “Florida is first in an undesirable competition – the number of foreclosures, which can take terrible toll on Tampa families and communities. One of every 409 Florida homes is in foreclosure, as of the end of 2013. According to the report by RealtyTrac, the other top states forRead more

Eric Snider | Tampa Bay Business Journal | “We’re not out of this foreclosure/short sale mess yet. More than a quarter of homes sales in December in 10 of the country’s largest metro areas were processed as either foreclosures or short sales, a new report says. Tampa ranked fourth, with such transactions making up 30.1 percent ofRead more

ALEX VEIGA | AP Real Estate Writer | “The number of U.S. homes that got started on the path to foreclosure fell last year to a low not seen since before the high-flying days of the housing boom, the latest evidence that the threat of foreclosures continues to diminish. Lenders also took back the fewestRead more

Christopher O’Donnell | Tampa Tribune | “Two years ago, Shanoah Washington’s home on Preston Street in the Melrose Mercy neighborhood was a gutted shell. Thieves had ripped out the air handler and plumbing. Gone, too, were windows, electrical wiring and most of the kitchen. The home attracted the attention of St. Petersburg City Council ChairmanRead more

By Josh Salman | Herald-Tribune “New home defaults throughout Southwest Florida have returned to the pace experienced before the market’s crash. Although the local court system continue to grapple with a backlog of 11,880 old foreclosure cases, the flow of loans becoming delinquent has slowed to a point that recalls 2006 — the height of last decade’sRead more

By John Hielscher | Herald-Tribune | “A popular tax break that has saved struggling Southwest Florida homeowners millions of dollars is slated to expire at the end of this year. The tax deduction on forgiven mortgage debt has been available for the past seven years, one of a number of measures intended to ease financial pressure broughtRead more

Pamela M. Prah | Stateline | “Some of the states hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis aren’t spending millions of dollars that the federal government has set aside to help struggling homeowners, a new report shows. Of $7.6 billion the federal government has provided in the “Hardest Hit Fund” to help homeowners, states have disbursedRead more

Roger Weeder | First Coast News | “Foreclosure courts are in full swing across the state, including Duval County, which has 2,700 cases that date back to before 2010. Six judges are handling the load, holding hearings four days a week and clearing out nearly 300 cases a week, according to the Clerk of Courts office. In GreenRead more

By Josh Salman | Herald-Tribune | “Florida’s $1 billion program to help prevent foreclosures in the wake of the housing crisis continues to diversify. The Florida Housing Finance Corp. announced Tuesday it would earmark $25 million of its Hardest-Hit Fund to help elderly homeowners with reverse mortgages. The agency says the new program will help recession-battered FloridiansRead more