Real Estate News – May 1, 2011

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Alabama and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding this week (via waff.com): http://bit.ly/jBGskB

Former real estate appraiser Natalie Rose Hurlburt — who set values for homes caught up in a local mortgage-fraud investigation that eventually landed five people in federal prison — agreed two years ago to permanently give up her state-issued appraiser license after a lengthy Pennsylvania Department of State probe (via goerie.com): http://bit.ly/ju96V7

A Trashy Tale of Homeowner Coercion (via insidenova.com): http://bit.ly/ixlVB9

A wave of foreclosures is forcing down home prices in most major U.S. cities. But economists and real estate agents are noticing what they call a key first step for any housing recovery: a drop in the glut of homes for sale in markets hit hardest by foreclosures (via delawareonline.com): http://bit.ly/jGTFh9