Excluding real-estate-related jobs in the financial area, the number was even better. Finance and insurance alone added 9,900 jobs last month, also the first increase since July 2007.

“The general idea is that the economy is turning, the financial sector is turning, and this is unequivocally a positive,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.

The broader question, Mr. Greenhaus said, is how fast other sectors can turn around and boost the economy. Based on the overall middling numbers in the report, “It doesn’t look like we’re set up for an explosion of job growth” like that U.S. economy has experienced following other recessions, he said.

Other sectors that added jobs last month included temporary help, education, and health care. The health care industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted, has added 631,000 jobs since the recession began.

El crédito impositivo es de hasta $8.000 para la compra de una primera vivienda y de hasta $6.500 para quienes ya eran propietarios y se mudan a otra vivienda.

Esas cifras son límite y se calcula tomando en cuenta el valor de compra.

El beneficio original vencía el primero de diciembre pero se resolvió la extensión hasta abril como medio para seguir alentando la compra de viviendas.

Pero quedó bien en claro que se trata de la última oportunidad para optar por el beneficio.

Durante el debate el presidente de la Comisión de Finanzas del Senado, el demócrata Max Baucus, dijo que “es importante que este crédito impositivo no se transforme en algo permanente”.

MONTAGNE: There is a government program to provide help for borrowers. It's got a price tag of $75 billion, but so far it's only helped a fraction of the people that it promised to help. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

SCOTT HORSLEY: When President Obama announced his foreclosure prevention effort back in February, he said it would help between three and four million families hold on to their homes. So far, only about 650,000 homeowners have negotiated the maze of paperwork and telephone hold messages to qualify for the program, and most of those have gotten only a temporary break in their monthly payments. This week, the Treasury Department announced a new push to move borrowers,lenders and the middlemen known as servicers towards a more lasting fix.

Ms. PHYLLIS CALDWELL (Homeowner's Preservation Office): This campaign is about making sure that as many of those homeowners convert to permanent modifications are able(ph) to stay in their homes. This will take efforts from the servicers and homeowners working together.

HORSLEY: Phyllis Caldwell, who heads the Treasury Department's new Homeowner's Preservation Office, says borrowers have to do their part, making surelenders have all the necessary documents. Though much of the government's focus is on servicers, this week the Treasury Department is sending so-called SWAT teams out to study servicers' operations with an eye towards speeding up the loan modifications. Servicers could face penalties if they don't deliver on the promised relief, but an assistant Treasury secretary refused to elaborate on what those penalties might be. Consumer advocate Julia Gordon of the Center for Responsible Lending says even if all the borrowers now in the government's program got permanent help, it wouldn't be enough.

Ms. JULIA GORDON (Center for Responsible Lending): If all 650,000 were magically converted tomorrow, we're still not at a scale that is solving this problem to the extent that it's going to help the numbers of homeowners who are at risk right now.

HORSLEY: For every borrower in the program there are about nine more falling behind on their monthly payments. Gordon says voluntary fixes are inadequate. She wants the government to requirelenders to explore alternatives before starting the foreclosure process, and she'd like to give bankruptcy judges the power to modify loan terms, an idea the Senate rejected earlier this year.

Ms. GORDON: The judicial modifications piece would have provided what you might call the stick to go along with the carrot of the Treasury and Senate payments to servicers for participating in the HAMP program.

HORSLEY: Lenders oppose any effort to let bankruptcy judges tinker with home loans, warning that would simply drive up future borrowing costs. CEO John Courson of the Mortgage Bankers Association calls the administration's goal of helping three to four million struggling borrowers unrealistic.

Mr. JOHN COURSON (Mortgage Bankers Association): I think the goal doesn't recognize the change in economic realities that we've been dealing with from the time the goal was originally announced.

HORSLEY: Since the announcement in February, the nation's unemployment rate has jumped from 8.1 percent to 10.2 percent. Chief economist Mark Fleming of the research firm First American CoreLogic says rising unemployment rather than exotic adjustable mortgages is what's responsible for a lot of today's foreclosure problem.

Mr. MARK FLEMING (First American CoreLogic): People who can't make their mortgage payments, little less than one in four are under water on their home. Therefore (unintelligible) re-finance is less of an option. These are the real driving forces of delinquency these days.

Attractive rates coupled with high affordability have been positives for the U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs of stabilization. Sales have surged in recent months as buyers scrambled to take advantage of the government's first-time home buyer tax credit.

"Buyers are tentative, however, and seem to need to think hard before moving ahead with a refinancing," he said.

"Earlier this year, borrowers were more active and willing to say 'I'll take it' more quickly," he said. "Now, they are tentative."

The MBA said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week to November 27 increased 2.1 percent to 613.7.

The four-week moving average of mortgage applications, which smooths the volatile weekly figures, was up 0.2 percent.

"It is taking people a long time to decide," he said.

The MBA said borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 4.79 percent, down 0.03 percentage point from the previous week, the lowest since the week ended May 15.

The rate remained above the all-time low of 4.61 percent set in the week ended March 27. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Interest rates were also well below the year-ago level of 5.47 percent.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index, a tentative early indicator of home sales, rose 4.1 percent to 232.3. The seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications increased 1.7 percent to 2,866.4.

The MBA said the results include an adjustment to account for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Last month the Obama administration extended the $8,000 first-time buyer credit, added a $6,500 provision for move-up buyers and increased income limits. The eligible borrowers must sign contracts by April 30 and close loans by June 30, 2010 instead of closing by the end of last month.

The U.S. housing market has suffered the worst downturn since the Great Depression and its impact has rippled through the recession-hit economy, as well as the rest of the world. Home price declines have been moderating in many regions of the country and in some areas have risen.

Many analysts, however, say prices are poised to fall again, with a new wave of foreclosures in the pipeline that is viewed as one of the largest obstacles to a recovery.

Problems in the housing market have also been moving up the loan quality chain. The current housing crisis had its roots in subprime mortgages made to borrowers with poor credit histories, which dominated the lower end of the market, while the middle and upper tiers of the market performed better. These higher tiers, however, have appeared increasingly troubled in the last quarter or two.

The MBA said fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.27 percent, down from 4.32 percent the previous week, and the lowest ever recorded in the survey, with the previous low being 4.32 percent recorded the previous two weeks and in October.

Rates on one-year ARMs decreased to 6.56 percent from 6.66 percent.

Mortgage interest rates slipped further still this week, down to 5.01 percent, from 5.07 percent a week ago for fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) on conforming 30-year loans, according to December's first weekly Interest Rate Review by Calabasas, CA-based Informa Research Services , a market research, analyses, and intelligence gathering service for the financial industry since 1983.

Informa's average 30-year conforming FRM of 5.01 percent was down from a year ago when it was three-quarters of a percentage point higher at 5.76 percent.

This week's Informa survey also said both the highest 30-year FRM with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 6.96 percent, and the lowest, at 4.34 percent, were virtually unchanged from last week's survey.

The average 15-year FRM came in Dec. 1 at 4.51 percent, down from 4.53 a week ago, was also down from 5.55 percent a year ago.

The average interest rate for the 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), was 3.49 percent, down more than a full percentage point from 4.79 percent a year ago.

The FRM rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages and the 5/1 ARM rates are all based on a $200,000 purchase loan, with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio, for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

Informa's National APR (annual percentage rates) numbers are tallied from a survey of 200 mortgage originators.

Informa also reported an average 6.05 percent fixed rate for 30-year, non-conforming jumbo loans, up a tad from 6.02 percent a week ago, but well off the 7.38 percent rate this time last year.

The jumbo averages are based on a $450,000 purchase loan with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

For home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note, the variable rate came in at an average 4.98 percent, identical to the rate a week ago, but up slightly from 4.88 percent a year ago.

Also relatively unchanged were average FRM rates on 15-year home equity loans of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note. They came in at 7.61 percent, down from 7.63 percent last week and down from 8.06 percent a year ago, according to Informa's survey.

The U.S. Treasury Department is looking into ways to help people who are temporarily unemployed stay in their homes, including adjustments in mortgage principal, an official said Thursday.

"There are a number of models that can be used to do that. I just think we need to look at a process, if we come to this point, that is fair to everyone, that is cost effective, that protects the taxpayers, and that gives people, responsible homeowners, a chance to stay in their home," Barr said.

Barr didn't say whether additional funds from Treasury's Wall Street rescue package would be used for mortgage assistance for the unemployed. Already, $75 billion of the $700 billion rescue fund has been devoted to helping strapped borrowers get loan modifications.

Taking questions from the audience of consumer advocates, Barr said Treasury is looking at a variety of ways to help people who "have borrowed more than their home is now worth."

Some of these individuals will continue to live in their homes, stay employed and pay their mortgages, Barr said.

"But there is a category of people for whom there is going to be an event in their life that's going to make it hard for them to stay in that home. And I do think we need to have better answers for people who are in that latter circumstance."

Some of the options for helping such people include principal forbearance or principal forgiveness, Barr said. "Others may need more serious adjustment in their principal, and I do think that's an area worth looking at more carefully," he said.

The administration is under pressure to help the unemployed make mortgage payments as joblessness has eclipsed exploding subprime mortgages as a major driver of foreclosures. Lawmakers are pushing the administration to use Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to offer the unemployed stopgap loans to cover their mortgage payments until they find work.

The Congressional Black Caucus, which is prodding the administration to do more to help ease unemployment among their constituents, backs this idea. It also wants the administration to force lenders to take certain steps, including writing down principal, before they can begin foreclosure proceedings.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), a caucus member, criticized the administration's foreclosure-prevention effort, saying attempts to jawbone lenders into making loan modifications won't work.

"They need more advice and input from sources other than inside that White House," she said in an interview.

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) have introduced legislation that would devote $2 billion in TARP funds to bridge loans of up to two years for people who are unable to make their mortgage payments because they've lost their jobs. The legislation would mimic on the federal level a Pennsylvania program that has been in place since 1984.

Under the program, qualified homeowners who have lost their jobs apply to a state agency for loans to cover their mortgage payments for up to two years. They repay the loan once they find work again. The program has provided loans to more than 43,000 people since 1984 at a cost of $236 million, according to Philadelphia Unemployment Project Director John Dodds.

Through HomePath.com, potential homeowners can access a database that includes a wide selection of homes from around the country – including the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico – which can be purchased directly from Fannie Mae. Properties include detailed information and photographs of single-family homes, condominiums, and town houses located in a variety of neighborhoods.

“HomePath.com is a great resource that can help people find a lifelong home for themselves and their families,” said Fannie Mae Executive Vice President, Terry W. Edwards. “The website has a wealth of information to inform and guide potential homeowners through the process of buying a Fannie Mae-owned property.”

The new release of HomePath.com in Spanish is part of a continuous effort aimed at improving access to information and resources which play a vital role in aiding both English and Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S. purchase homes, while helping minimize the impact on communities hit by foreclosures.

For more information about HomePath, please visit www.HomePath.com and click “En Espanol”, or for direct access to the website in Spanish, visit www.es.HomePath.com

Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.

Making Home Affordable is a trademark of the United States Department of the Treasury and is used under license. “

"La baja interanual va a captar la imaginación de todos, pero eso es un indicador retrasado de lo que ha estado pasando", dijo el economista de Fortis Nick Kounis.

"Uno de los acontecimientos más notables está en el dato de flujo mensual. Hemos visto una serie de meses sucesivos de alzas en créditos a familias, especialmente hipotecarios, por lo que estamos comenzando a ver signos de un cambio", agregó.

Los préstamos a hogares subieron en 14.000 millones de euros mes contra mes en septiembre, el quinto incremento consecutivo, aunque está todavía un 0,3 por ciento por debajo que hace un año.

Las cifras también muestran que el crecimiento anual en el circulante M3, una medida del dinero disponible para gastar, se desaceleró a un 1,8 por ciento, desde un 2,6 por ciento en agosto, por debajo del 2,2 por ciento de expansión previsto por los economistas en un sondeo de Reuters.

Los especialistas comentaron que esto confirmaría la opinión del BCE de que las presiones inflacionarias siguen bajo control.

La AFD espera poder contar con los USD 10 millones, dentro de los próximos 6 meses, ya que existe gran expectativa por parte del público y de las entidades financieras sobre este producto. Estos fondos serán financiados con parte de un préstamo por USD 50 millones del BID, el cual se espera sea aprobado por Diputados esta semana.

Si bien varias entidades financieras ya se encuentran promocionando el producto, Financiera Atlas SAECA se constituye en la primera entidad en aprobar estas operaciones.

Juan Carlos Martín, Gerente General, de Financiera Atlas, mencionó que mediante estos fondos de la AFD, la entidad puede otorgar financiamiento a un sector de la población de menores ingresos, a quienes no podían ofrecer un producto adecuado a su capacidad de pago anteriormente. Agregó que poseen otras 20 carpetas en proceso, y esperan concretar operaciones por aproximadamente Gs. 2.000.000.000.- hasta fin de año.

Para acceder a estos créditos, los ingresos familiares de los interesados no deben exceder los 5 salarios mínimos. Los préstamos tienen un máximo de Gs. 200 millones y son otorgados hasta 20 años de plazo, pudiendo ser financiado hasta el 100 % del valor de la vivienda o proyecto de construcción. Aplican para estos préstamos las operaciones para adquisición o construcción de la primera vivienda.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 from an upwardly revised June rate of 395,000. Sales are now up more than 30 percent from the bottom in January, but are still off nearly 70 percent from the frenzied peak four years ago.

Last month's sales pace was the strongest since September and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who expected a pace of 390,000 units.

In a kind of Cash for Clunkers effect, homebuyers are rushing to take advantage of a federal tax credit that covers 10 percent of the home price, or up to $8,000, for first-time owners. Home sales must be completed by the end of November for buyers to qualify.

Builders and real estate agents are pressing Congress for that credit to be extended. If it isn't, sales could reverse their upward trend.

El interventor de Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac, James Lockhart, quien anunció que abandonará el cargo este mes, dijo ayer en una entrevista con Bloomberg Televisión: “todos los que estuvimos involucrados en los mercados hipotecarios lamentamos que no vimos cuán mala era la situación, y cuán grave se tornarí”.

El Departamento del Tesoro ha comprometido unos 400,000 millones de dólares para impedir la bancarrota de las dos firmas mientras el Gobierno decide cómo reestructurará sus operaciones.

Entre las opciones mencionadas por Bloomberg, se cuentan la transformación de ambas en empresas públicas, la liquidación de las dos, o una discriminación de sus activos entre los que son sólidos y utilizables, y los que son débiles y sería mejor liquidarlos.

Según el Post, la “deuda mala” de las firmas se colocaría en nuevas instituciones financieras respaldadas por el Gobierno cuya tarea será el cobro de la mayor cantidad posible de los saldos pendientes. Las cartas constitutivas de Freddie Mac y Fannie Mae les permiten la compra de préstamos hipotecarios a los bancos, que luego las dos agencias “re-empaquetan” y venden a los inversionistas.

El plan usaría 50.000 millones del fondo de rescate financiero de 700.000 millones de dólares, aprobado el año pasado, 200.000 millones de dólares autorizados por el proyecto de ayuda inmobiliaria del año pasado y 25.000 millones de dólares de las empresas de financiamiento inmobiliario Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac. A continuación, los principales elementos del plan:

- El Tesoro y la Corporación Federal de Seguros de los Depósitos Bancarios crearán un fondo de seguros de 10.000 millones de dólares para proteger a los deudores contra las bajas en el precio de las casas como medios de evitar las ejecuciones.

¿Por qué motivos incumplió el pago de su(s) mensualidad(es) hipotecaria(s)? ¿Tiene algún documento que demuestre los motivos de sus atrasos? ¿De qué manera intentó resolver este problema?

Venta a pérdida o con descuento: Es posible que antes de iniciar el procedimiento de ejecución hipotecaria, la entidad de préstamo que administra su hipoteca le permita vender su casa por su cuenta y acuerde en condonarle la diferencia entre el precio de venta y el saldo de su hipoteca. Por medio de esta opción, usted puede evitar que se registre una ejecución hipotecaria en su informe de crédito que perjudique su calificación crediticia. Puede ser que usted tenga que hacerse cargo del pago de los impuestos gravados sobre el monto condonado de su deuda. Para más información, considere consultar con un asesor financiero, contador o abogado.

Escritura en lugar de ejecución hipotecaria: En esta opción, usted le transfiere voluntariamente su título de propiedad a la entidad de préstamo que administra su hipoteca (con el previo acuerdo de la entidad) a cambio de la cancelación del saldo de su deuda. Aunque usted pierde su casa, la opción de escriturar su propiedad a nombre de la entidad hipotecaria en lugar de que se la ejecuten puede ser menos perjudicial para su calificación de crédito. Usted perderá el monto de lo que haya capitalizado como amortización de la hipoteca de su propiedad, y puede que tenga que hacerse cargo de los impuestos gravados sobre el monto condonado de su deuda. Puede ser que la opción de escritura en lugar de ejecución hipotecaria no sea una opción en su caso si usted tiene algún otro préstamo o compromiso financiero garantizado por su propiedad.