Washington - Chairman Dodd, Ranking Member Shelby, Members of the Committee, good morning, I very much appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to present the Treasury Department's perspective on "Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Preservation."

What could be worse than getting behind on mortgage payments? Owing your lender more than your home is worth. That's what's happening to homeowners across the country, many of whom just a couple of years ago opted for interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages.

Under the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI), the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (DOL-ETA) has announced the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds for high-impact regional approaches to meet the workforce challenges of the energy industry and/or address the shortage of construction and skilled trade workers needed to maintain and expand the energy industry infrastructure

WASHINGTON, January 29, 2008 - The National Association of Realtors congratulated the U.S. House of Representatives and President Bush for their bipartisan actions to help families in need, the housing market, and the U.S. economy.

RealtyTrac the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released year-end data from its 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 2,203,295 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 1,285,873 properties nationwide during the year, up 75 percent from 2006.

NAREE REAL ESTATE JOURNALISM CONTEST EXPANDS WITH 11 NEW CATEGORIES; $10,000 IN PRIZE MONEY. AWARDS OPEN FOR WEEKLY BUSINESS PAPERS, SPOT NEWS REPORTS; MORTGAGE & HOME DESIGN WRITERS

Despite a growing interest in Asia, U.S. real estate, by a wide margin, has risen to the top of the global property market among foreign investors, with New York City and Washington named the top two global cities for foreign investors' real estate dollars according to the results of the 16th annual survey released today by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In 2007 the gross revenue from goods and services sold at live auction grew 5.3% to $270.7 billion. In 2006, the auction industry sold $257.2 billion in goods and services at auction, an increase of 7.1% from 2005

Nation's Most Respected Housing Experts Discuss Solutions to Foreclosure Crisis & Ways to Recreate Sustainable Homeownership At National Community Reinvestment Coalition Annual Conference - March 12_15

McLean, VA – January 24, 2008 - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.48 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending January 24, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.69 percent as well. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.25 percent.

Existing-home sales declined in December following several months of stable activity, with total sales in 2007 still at the fifth highest on record, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

WASHINGTON, January 24, 2008 - Existing-home sales declined in December following several months of stable activity, with total sales in 2007 at the fifth highest on record, according to the National Association of Realtors

Washington, DC, January 22 - The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), today, released its National Policy Agenda for 2008. Gail Cardwell, President of MHI said, “Manufactured and modular housing are the right answer, at the right time for consumers looking for quality housing options.

It's easy to assume that the nation's richest counties dot the tri-state area around New York City, or San Francisco's Bay Area. Homeowners there, after all, shell out millions of dollars for small luxuries such as a lawn and a garage.

As home prices drop and foreclosures swell, particularly in states like Ohio, buyers are increasingly flocking to foreclosed real estate auctions to find discounted property. Auctions of foreclosed homes, also known as bank-owned, give buyers an opportunity to purchase property below market value because banks are eager to dispose of these non-performing loans.

WASHINGTON, January 17, 2008 - The National Association of Realtors® today urged President George W. Bush and Congress to help homeowners and the national economy by loosening constraints on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as an integral part of a federal stimulus package currently being discussed.

Twenty years ago, few house-hunters were interested in Charlestown, Mass. In this small, dense neighborhood, just across the river from Boston, commercial fishing piers and industrial development fell in the shadow of Interstate 93. Property values were appropriately low.

Washington - Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. issued the following statement today regarding the HOPE NOW alliance's progress report on the number of homeowners helped since the organization's inception. The report indicated that during the fourth quarter, following the creation of the alliance, mortgage servicers in the organization were modifying subprime loans three times faster than in the third quarter.

States Clamp Down on Sharks; Legitimate Investors May Feel Sting As the number of foreclosure filings climbs, increasing by 99.5 percent between the third quarter of 2006 and that of 2007, so does the number of laws designed to protect consumers from scams that pretend to help troubled home owners refinance.

Real estate practitioners need to adopt new strategies in the new year to give them a competitive edge, given that there are more than 2.5 million licensed real estate practitioners nationwide--all of them competing for work in a slow market.