REAL ESTATE NEWS

Stock market woes hit Stowe, Vt., second-home market A population of haves and have-nots has created a two-sided housing market in Stowe, Vt., in Lamoille County. Stowe is a New England resort town that attracts affluent vacation home buyers. But the county also has small, rural towns where residents own moderately priced homes. Stowe has a second-home market that relies on executives from the financial services industry in New York and Boston. Because they've been hammered by the stock market collapse, vacation home sales have stalled. Foreclosure crisis spreads from subprime to prime mortgages The pace of prime borrowers going into foreclosure is accelerating, especially in states with mounting unemployment or property values that saw a big run-up during the housing boom. SEC charges ex-Countrywide CEO Mozilo with fraud Former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo and two other former officials of the mortgage giant were charged with fraud by federal regulators Thursday in the first government lawsuit against top corporate executives for actions related to the financial crisis. Mortgage crisis robbing seniors of golden years The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has slashed home values and triggered an unprecedented surge in foreclosures across the nation. It's also taking an especially harsh toll on an often overlooked demographic: seniors who are retired or nearly so.Howard Weiss is 77 and scared. Mortgage rates rise to 6-month high above 5% Mortgage rates have risen to their highest levels in six months, threatening to delay a housing turnaround by discouraging potential home buyers.