If you're hunting for a real estate bargain, look no further: Here are 10 cities where the typical home costs less than $82,000 MoreThe former first family of Alaska recently bought a home in Scottsdale, Ariz. for $1.695 million. MoreIf you're hunting for a real estate bargain, look no further: Here are 10 cities where the typical home costs less than $82,000 MoreThe former first family of Alaska recently bought a home in Scottsdale, Ariz. for $1.695 million. More [Read the full article]

Foreclosure filings experienced their eighth straight month of declines, according to RealtyTrac.In May, filings fell 33% from a year earlier and 2% month-over-month, according to the online marketplace of foreclosed properties. The number of homes that were repossessed (referred to as REOs or real estate-owned properties) in May also declined to 66,879, down 3.8% from April and 29% year-over-year, the firm said.The huge year-over-year drop in foreclosures doesn't necessarily mean the housing market is staging a recovery, however.James Saccacio, the CEO of RealtyTrac, says the declines are likely due to lingering effects of the "robo-signing" scandal, which broke last September, when it was discovered that banks were playing fast and loose with foreclosure documents.In some cases, it was found that banks brought foreclosure proceedings upon homeowners when they had no standing to do so. [Read the full article]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Permits for housing construction climbed in May, signaling a glimmer of optimism among homebuilders about the future of the housing market.The number of permits for future housing construction jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 612,000 last month, up 8.7% from the revised rate of 563,000 in April, the Commerce Department said.It was the highest monthly rate since December and was much higher than expected, with economists surveyed by Briefing.com looking for a 548,000 permit rate.Permits for single-family homes, viewed as a more stable indicator of new homebuilding activity than permits for multi-family home construction, ticked up 2.5% from April to a rate of 405,000. [Read the full article]

"I'm always trying to take advantage of a situation. I feel like two years ago was a good time to rent," said Liberati. "Now it seems very affordable. We had to jump on the situation."For much of the nation that silver lining remains invisible, as housing is stuck in its worst slump in decades. Each monthly data point -- sinking home prices, slow sales, sluggish housing starts -- has fallen like a hammer on the coffin nails of an industry that shows few signs of life.But housing may soon rise from the dead, argue some economists. And, the severity of the slump may in fact accelerate the arrival of a recovery."The truth is the correction in house prices and the low level of home building is really the cure for the housing industry's problems," said Jim Glassman, senior economist at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. [Read the full article]