Foreclosure Rate Drops!

The number of homes seized by banks, sold at foreclosure auctions, or that slipped in default dropped by more than 7,000 (or 2 percent) in February, according to data firm RealtyTrac.

That's great news for anyone worried about the value of their home or the strength of the economy.

For months, the threat of a new wave of home loan foreclosures has been the monster under the bed for housing economists. There are now about 1.8 million homeowners who are several months late in their mortgage payments, according to recent reports. If they all lose their homes, the deluge of new foreclosures could damage banks, again, and send home values back down, again.