The U.S. economy appears  to be on the road to recovery. Yet mortgage delinquencies continue to rise holding back any relative upbeat assessment since foreclosures keep the value  of nearby properties down while eroding the net worth of homeowners and the tax base for communities nationwide.

The Center for Responsible Lending says foreclosures are on track to wipe out $502 billion in property values this year. Its important we understand this and continue to maintain a level head as the media begins to go from one end of the sensationalistic news coverage (bad) to the other. Read more here on Reuters

Brian Boero of 1000watt lays down the logic gavel down in this brilliantly entertaining post about how social media seems to have been tailor made for real estate. Yet it appears that our industry hasn’t gotten it right yet as the echo chamber is louder and more more bizarre everyday.

From the Today Show, correspondent and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran names her top ten places in the nation to buy a home. Sarasota came in at #1. Given how hard and how early in the downtown Florida was hit, we’re glad to see that things are picking up there and elsewhere. Who knows what this means for the long term but right now, a little good news is goes a long way.

On FOREM this week, a special guest perspective from Homefinder CEO Tim Fagan takes us on a well written journey through the past, present and future of real estate advertising in this post titled: It’s time to simplify real estate advertising