Jenifer B. McKim

More than six years after the housing downturn began in Massachusetts, home sales are still painfully slow. Values remain 15 percent below their peak. Foreclosures, which slowed as banks wrestled with legal problems, appear to be accelerating again.

Thomas Grillo

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in the Bay State posted their third consecutive month of gains in September amid growing signs that the worst of the housing collapse may be over.

Christine Dunn

Foreclosures are a persistent problem in Rhode Island, and high housing costs continue to burden many in the state, whether they own or rent, according to HousingWorks RI, a nonprofit advocacy group.