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Foreclosures rose sharply during the first quarter of the year, increasing by more than 20 percent to account for one in 40 outstanding U.S. mortgages, according to government figures released this week.

Many homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages now have a new option for reducing their monthly payments - refinancing under the government's Making Home Affordable Program.

Mortgage applications dropped sharply last week, declining almost 19 percent from the week before despite a third consecutive week of falling interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has reported.

Need help reducing your mortgage payments? Been trying to get approved for a Making Home Affordable loan modification or refinance without success? Help could be coming to a town near you.

The decline in home prices slowed for the third straight month in April, according to a leading market surveys, suggesting that while the housing market has not turned around, it may finally be firming up.

Is it worth it to refinance your mortgage? With recent signs that interest rates may be headed back down again, many people may be wondering if refinancing would make sense for them. As always, the devil is in the details.

As many as one in four mortgage defaults are voluntary, with homeowners walking away from the property despite an ability to make mortgage payments, according to a new study by economists at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

So you missed out on last spring's ultra-low rates, those dizzying few weeks when 30-year fixed -rate mortgages could be had at interest rates below 5 percent, an all-time low. But you may have noticed that it's still possible to get one of those ultra-low rates - by locking into a 15-year mortgage instead.

People who are still hoping to refinance their mortgage or are shopping for a home got some good news the past two days, thanks to an easing of concerns over some of the factors that have been pushing up mortgage rates.