Free-market purists have to love the lead in The Washington Post story Friday about the real estate market in Prince William County, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Three years ago Patricia and Milton Harper received a gift courtesy of reality television. ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to the rescue, demolishing the Harper’s old run down home with a faulty septic tank and replacing it with a 5,300 square-foot, two-story dream home in Lake City, Georgia.

Foreclosure activity continued its upward climb in May, increasing on a year-over-year basis for the 29th consecutive month, according to the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today. The report showed one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month, the highest monthly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.

The first quarter MBA National Delinquency Survey released today largely supports the findings of the RealtyTrac Q1 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released at the end of April, which found overall foreclosure activity increased 23 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 and 112 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

I work with buyers in my area; new jargon and issues are making buying a home more difficult than ever before. It is great to see prices drop. The opportunity to own a home at affordable prices has never been greater, but getting to the closing table is so much more difficult.

According to the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report issued today, the total number of properties with foreclosure activity in April reached the highest level on a monthly basis since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.