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As expected, the popular home buyers tax credit has been extended. In fact, it is even more attractive.

OK, let's first look at the extension of the current program, which includes a maximum $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers (which is someone who hasn't owned a home in the past three years). The home must be a principal residence and the value may not exceed $800,000 (the credit is either 10% of the value of a home or $8,000, whichever is less). The credit is also refundable, which means that you can still get money even if you do not owe taxes.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) has initiated a new Deed to Lease program in which homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to stay in their homes as renters.

During the first half of the year, Fannie Mae has acquired 57,000 homes through foreclosure. These are owners who do not qualify for mortgage restructuring. They must demonstrate that they could not pay their mortgage but can pay rent. The rents paid are lower than their previous mortgage payment.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the bears simply won't hear the positives -- but he'll keep hammering them home.

Lots of things are coming together for housing, but nobody seems to care. We had Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) the other day offer attractive interest-only mortgage loans to those in trouble, a bet that eventually housing will go higher. We had Fannie (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer's Take) allow people in trouble to rent to stay in their homes, and the government is going to extend the tax credit for homebuyers and broaden it. Plus, mortgage rates went under 5% again.

But nobody cared. No one.

After haggling since September the US Senate finally passed an extension for unemployed persons and extended the credit for first time home buyers.

The situation for unemployed persons is dire. Here are just a few facts about their current situation:

• We have 15 million unemployed vying for just three million available jobs.
• 200,000 persons lost their benefits since September
• 7000 persons a day are losing their benefits.
• More than 1/3 of the unemployed have been out or work for at least six months.

The National Bankruptcy Research Center reported that there were 135,914 bankruptcies in October, up 9%. One third of the bankruptcies were filed under Chapter 13. Chapter 13 requires that the court set up a five year repayment plan for debts owed.

In addition business bankruptcies were up 7% for the same period.The forecast is for 1.4 million bankruptcies in 2009, the highest since 2005. In that year Congress revamped the bankruptcy laws to make it more difficult to wipe out all of a person's debts. There was a rush of filings in the months just before the new law was enacted.

Investment-grade commercial real estate prices gained 4.4% in the third quarter of this year. But, it's hard to tell if -- like brief blips of hope we've seen in consumer spending, unemployment and even luxury meals in London -- this is a change in the market or just a tease.

This increase in the MIT Center for Real Estate's transaction-based index (TBI) is the first up-tick in more than a year and the biggest gain since the middle of 2007. One quarter doesn't make a trend, cautions David Geltner, director of research at the MIT Center for Real Estate, but he says, "this is the strongest sign of a bottom that we've had in two years." The TBI reached 36.5% below its 2007 peak last quarter, up from 39% from the high-water mark in mid-2007.

In a major policy shift, the US Federal Reserve ended its purchase of $300 billion dollars of treasury securities.The purchase had the effect of pumping money into the banking system. When the Fed buys securities, it creates a credit on bank balance sheets, thus increasing the banks' ability to lend.

Fed purchases helped to keep interest rates from rising i.e. the yield on the benchmark 10-year note never went above 4%.

At the same time the Fed issued a record $1.25 trillion dollars in treasury notes and bonds, more than double a year ago's auctions. The purchases acted as a cushion for keeping borrowing costs down.

U.S. stock futures declined Wednesday morning a day after stocks mostly fell on mixed economic data and some earnings disappointments. Today is another busy day of earnings and economic releases, including durable goods orders and new home sales.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks fell for a third straight session after a surprise drop in consumer confidence. Despite a good housing report, and even as the Dow's oil giants and IBM (NYSE: IBM) saved the Dow from finishing in the red (BP (BYSE: BP) on good earnings, and IBM increased its share repurchase plan), tech staged a selloff and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%.

If you've become comfortable with the current state of the housing market ... don't. Economists at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) say there's still plenty of risk in the housing market.

Alec Phillips, the head of Goldman's Washington office, said, "The risk of renewed home price declines remains significant." His "working assumption" is a drop of between 5% and 10% by the middle of next year.

Put this one under the the category of 'a half-loaf is better than none.'

Senate leaders are apparently poised to extend the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

However, the extension will not please all in the housing sector, as the Senate is working on a plan that would extend the credit, which expires November 30, for homes that close before April 1, 2010. The credit would then be reduced to $6,000, then $4,000, then $2,000 for homes that close in each successive quarter, until the end of 2010, at which time the credit program would end.

Existing homes are starting to move again. Last month, home resales hit their highest level in more than two years, thrashing expectations. The 9.4% increase in home resales -- which entails a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.57 million -- is attributed largely to the deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the annualized, seasonally adjusted rate is up from the 5.1 million in August and far ahead of the 5.35 million expected for September (based on economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters).

People not only feel poorer, they are poorer. Personal wealth will continue to decline in 2010, as home prices fall even further, fueled by a wave of 7 million homes that will go into foreclosure in the next 12 to 18 months. And foreclosure rates will remain above historical norms well beyond that.

More foreclosures mean more downward price pressure in the housing market. And homeowners will experience a commensurate loss of wealth as the value of their homes decline. And this is on top of all the money that had previously been lost in the stock market -- as much as 40% of accumulated consumer wealth.

"We're still adding to our Chinese portfolio, and expect to be doing so for some time; this is where significant opportunities exist," says Richard Schimit.

In The Stellar Stock Alert, he reviews E-House (NYSE: EJ), noting, "While American real estate is still struggling to regain its footing, Chinese real estate hasn't experienced the same breaking bubble.

"In fact, it hasn't experienced a bubble yet. But Chinese real estate is definitely gaining in value. And the companies that know the market can really profit.

Lately, the residential real estate market has been perking up. A key driver has been a juicy tax break: the first-time home buyer's tax credit, which comes to $8,000. No doubt, this can make a big difference when making the decision to purchase a home.

In fact, about 1.4 million taxpayers have filed returns to take advantage of the benefit.

This should be a good thing, right? Well, whenever there is a significant tax break, expect a good amount of cheats to get a piece of the action (especially during hard economic times).

What is the Beige Book and what does it contain? The US Federal Reserve keeps anecdotal reports on the economy in what is called the "Beige Book." Here are some notes on the key topics:

• There was some improvement in two of the hardest hit areas -- residential real estate and manufacturing.
• Gains in economic activity generally outnumbered declines.
• "Grim" was how the Fed described commercial real estate, "with conditions described as either weak or deteriorating across all districts." Regional banks said they did not see improvement in commercial real estate going forward into 2010.