Relapse or recovery for housing market?

While Obama's housing rescue efforts got off to a slow start, there appear to be some signs of a housing recovery. But growing unemployment and looming foreclosures could quickly put a damper on these tender green shoots.

First the positive signs. Some big cities showed substantial improvement in reducing foreclosures in the last six months. This includes the Greater New York area with 23.5 percent fewer foreclosures, Boston with 40.7 percent fewer filings and Houston with 31.3 percent fewer filings. We're even seeing improvement in some of the worst hit spots, such as Central Valley cities in California where foreclosure rates are dropping. The highest foreclosure rates remain in the same four states -- California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada, with 29 of the top 30 places.