Home mortgage rates and real estate news - CNNMoney.com

1. Home prices at lowest point in more than 10 years
   Home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January, but that helped to lift the pace of home sales, according to a report from an industry trade group.
2. Fannie, Freddie legal fees: $110 million and counting
   A watchdog agency said Wednesday that the legal tab for former leaders of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is at least $110 million.
3. The other foreclosure settlement
   Millions of borrowers who suffered financial losses because their mortgage lenders played fast and loose while processing their foreclosures now have two ways of getting a payback.
4. Multi-million dollar foreclosures
   Even these mega-mansions in some of America's wealthiest neighborhoods are not immune to the housing crisis.
5. Home buying: Most affordable in decades
   Buying a home is now more affordable than it has been in the last twenty years.
6. New York apartment sells for a record $88 million
   The most expensive apartment ever sold in Manhattan went for a cool $88 million this week.
7. Fewer homeowners missing mortgage payments
   The mortgage meltdown that began five years ago appears to be reversing course as the percentage of loans that fell into delinquency slowly returned to normal rates and fewer loans fell into foreclosure.
8. New home construction starts strong in 2012
   New home construction got off to a strong start for the year, with housing starts and building permits rising in January on a monthly and annual basis -- another sign that the U.S. housing market and broader economy are headed in the right direction.
9. Foreclosures climbed in January
   Foreclosures picked up in January, yet another sign that the nation's huge glut of delinquent homes may soon start making their way onto the market.
10. Banks pay homeowners $35K to sell
    In an effort to cut their losses, banks are paying some struggling homeowners as much as $35,000 to sell their homes before they end up in foreclosure.
11. Citi fined $158 million for gaming federal housing program
    Citigroup will pay $158 million to settle charges that its mortgage unit defrauded the Federal Housing Administration by inaccurately claiming that certain mortgages were eligible for government insurance, government officials announced Wednesday.
12. Mortgage deal could bring billions in relief
    In the largest deal to date aimed at addressing the housing meltdown, federal and state officials on Thursday announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the largest home lenders.
13. Want a date? Buy a home
    When it comes to dating, homeownership can be the ultimate aphrodisiac.
14. Mortgage deal means more foreclosures
    Even as the $26 billion mortgage settlement helps hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners, it will bring a wave of new forclosures.
15. What the foreclosure settlement means for you
    The nation's five largest banks have finally struck a deal with 49 states to settle charges of abusive and negligent foreclosure practices dating back to 2008.