NEW YORK - An industry group said today that pending U.S. home sales dropped to a new low in March, signaling the housing slump has yet to bottom out even as the spring sell season gets under way.

DALLAS - D.R. Horton said today it swung to a loss in the second quarter, as a sustained housing slump forced the nation's largest home builder to take hefty charges and write down the value of property.

The bipartisan Senate bill would offer aid to struggling builders, cities and homeowners facing foreclosure. Senate Democratic and Republican leaders reached agreement Wednesday on a multibillion-dollar package to address rampant foreclosures and other problems stemming from what may be the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday that various proposals being put forward to deal with the housing slump would do more harm than good.

The Fed, citing troubled financial conditions, signals it is open to further reductions. The Federal Reserve pressed ahead Wednesday with one of its most aggressive rate-cutting campaigns ever in an effort to ease the effects of a housing slump, a credit crunch and a possible recession. And the central bank left itself room to shrink interest rates again if necessary.

SAN DIEGO - The housing slump is spreading gloom through the economy, but it's turned out to be a silver lining for thousands of Southern Californians who lost homes in last October's wildfires.

Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose 35% in November to a record, an industry report showed Monday, adding evidence about the depth of the U.S. housing slump.

NEW YORK - The upside to a housing slump is cheaper homes. But many prospective buyers don't see bargains yet, especially as stricter lending standards qualify only the cream of the credit crop.

If there aren't as many new books in San Jose libraries next year, or city parks are less well kept, or Santa Clara County streets have more potholes, residents can blame rising foreclosures and the housing slump in part.

If there aren't as many new books in San Jose libraries next year, or city parks are less well kept, or Santa Clara County streets have more potholes, residents can blame rising foreclosures and the housing slump in part.