There was an abundance of good news on the foreclosure front in 2011 that might portend a rosy outlook for 2012 — at least at first blush. U.S. foreclosure activity was down on an annual basis in every month during the year through November, according to RealtyTrac’s monthly foreclosure market reports. These annual decreases put the nation on pace to have fewer than 2 million properties with foreclosure filings for the year, down more than 30 percent from the nearly 2.9 million properties with foreclosure filings in 2010. See our year-end 2011 foreclosure report being issued Jan. 12. Complete Story

Foreclosure filings were reported on 1,887,777 U.S. properties in 2011, a decrease of 34 percent in total properties from 2010, according to the RealtyTrac Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure activity in 2011 was the lowest since 2007. The report also shows that 1.45 percent of U.S. housing units (one in 69) had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 2.23 percent in 2010, 2.21 percent in 2009, and 1.84 percent in 2008. Total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate in 2011 were both at their lowest annual level since 2007. Complete Story

The term "cramdown" used to be a dirty word in real estate, an expression meaning that a court would change loan terms — and not in a way that lenders liked. Complete Story