The big reason behind WaMu’s failure is no surprise: Its home-loan business sunk the bank. WaMu had way too much in mortgage-related losses.

Homeowners in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach area spent a whopping 58 percent of their income on mortgage payments. That’s an amazing figure. Ideally, a home should not suck up more than 30 percent of its owner’s income. I can’t imagine spending more than half of my income on mortgage payments.

Crain’s Chicago Business , one of the top business publications around, recently wrote a small story about the high number of new-construction homes that have yet to be finished. Crain’s refers to them as white elephants.

What is the one trait common to the country’s top-performing cities when it comes to job growth? Technology.

The new debate in the housing industry centers on whether we’ve yet hit the bottom of the residential real estate slump. Have we seen the worst of the downturn? Or are things going to get even worse?

In Malibu, the open house guide comes with symbols: A knife and fork represent agent open houses that are serving food. A wine glass means the open house comes stocked only with beverages.

The Canadian dollar is strong and U.S. homes are cheaper than they’ve been in years. This combines to make U.S. housing a strong investment for Canadian buyers.

It’s easy to understand why so many real estate agents are frustrated with homebuyers these days. It seems that buyers want everything from sellers: lower prices, closing dates that meet their schedules, repairs, help with getting a down payment, you name it.

Trulia, one of the most visited house-hunting sites on the Internet, last month introduced a new tool that allows iPhone users to quickly locate all the real estate listings and open houses in a user’s area.

It seems that many real estate professionals are still unwilling to face the truth that the housing market still stinks.