Lenders in September completed less than half the number of foreclosures in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area as they did during the same period last year and initiated 38 fewer new foreclosures, RealtyTrac said Friday. more

BOSTON – Claim forms are being sent to Massachusetts residents who lost their homes to foreclosure and who may be eligible for payment under the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week. more

BOSTON – Massachusetts saw 566 completed foreclosures in August, the lowest monthly level to date in 2012, The Warren Group said last week. more

With 30-year mortgage rates hitting new lows and recent borrowers’ payment performance the best by far in decades, you’d think that banks and other lenders might be loosening up on their hyper-strict underwriting standards. more

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said weakness in the housing market is one of the main forces creating a “disappointing” economic recovery. more

Bargain hunters may still rule the market, but high-end real estate is gaining momentum, and many lenders are looking to take advantage. more

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced last week that approximately 5,500 Rhode Island residents who lost their primary residence due to an improper foreclosure processes between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, should expect to receive notice by mail with information about how to file a claim for funds under the $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement. more

To the Editor: I am writing this letter in response to an article by Patrick Anderson that ran in Providence Business News recently (“Twenty years on, court ruling changes condo law,” Sept. 10, 2012). more

Call it the political elephant in the room: 1.2 million families across the country are now at some stage of foreclosure, 3.8 million homeowners have been foreclosed upon since September 2008, 11.4 million are underwater on their mortgages, $6.5 trillion in home equity has been lost by owners since 2005, home building and sales are intimately linked with job creation, yet the subject of housing policy was virtually a no-show in either the Democratic or Republican conventions or in the party platforms. more

Declining real estate values over the past four years have done little to make homes more affordable for the average Rhode Islander, HousingWorks Rhode Island said in its annual housing report released Friday. more