CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Wachovia Corp. chief executive Ken Thompson was pushed out Monday as head of the nation's fourth-largest bank, becoming the latest financial services executive to be ousted amid turmoil in the U.S. housing market.

WASHINGTON – A Senate bill aimed at reviving the beleaguered U.S. housing market could make borrowing for a home more expensive in high-priced markets such as California and New York.

WASHINGTON – A Senate bill aimed at reviving the beleaguered U.S. housing market could make borrowing for a home more expensive in high-priced markets such as California and New York.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. home funding source, is setting a single national standard for down payments on mortgages it buys, including areas where home prices are falling, in an effort to stimulate the housing market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that markets have calmed down to the point where prices will be driven by economic factors including an improving housing market rather than by fear.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday set out terms for a possible deal on a housing market rescue plan, as a sweeping package backed by the House of Representatives was on its way to an uncertain greeting in the Senate.

Welcome to Real Estate Live, an online discussion of the Washington area housing market with Post Real Estate editor Maryann Haggerty.

The plan gains support as pressure mounts on both political parties. The House on Thursday passed the most sweeping government plan yet to shore up the troubled housing market and help people struggling to pay their mortgages, adopting legislation that would underwrite $300 billion in new loans and keep an estimated 500,000 homeowners out of foreclosure.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to create a $300 billion mortgage-insurance fund and provide billions more in homeowner aid to stabilize a housing market shaken by a wave of foreclosures and a credit crunch.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to create a $300 billion mortgage-insurance fund and provide billions more in homeowner aid to stabilize a housing market shaken by a wave of foreclosures and a credit crunch.