My Financial Healthcheck

Home real estate losses totaled $500 billion in 2009, terrible but a big improvement over the $3.6 trillion lost in 2008.  Low mortgage rates and the homebuyer tax credit helped the housing market make a comeback.  In October 21% of homeowners were underwater, meaning their home value was less than the mortgage they owned.  The troubled homeowner relief program continues to be a bust, the Obama administration said they would help 4 million homeowners, so far only 759,058 have been helped.  Loan servicers say they are having trouble getting the necessary documents from borrowers, while homeowners maintain that their financial intuitions are repeatedly losing the paperwork.  Foreclosure plague slows, filing fell by 8% in November, making it the forth consecutive month of improvement.  The total filings were still a lofty 18% above November 2008 levels.  For this year a total of 777,630 homes have been foreclosed on.  The worst states continue to be Nevada, Florida, California and Florida.  Home construction building rebounded from a six-month low in November, rising 8.9% in November.  Citibank will suspend foreclosures and evictions for 30 days, giving some 4,000 at-risk homeowners a break during the holiday season.