Fewer Americans filed for personal bankruptcy last year, though experts said that might change in 2012.

Filings fell 12% in 2011 as 1.35 million Americans entered Chapter 7 or 13, according to an analysis for the National Bankruptcy Research Center by Columbia Law School professor Ronald Mann.

That’s down from more than 1.5 million filings in 2010, or about one out of every 150 people. In 2011, the ratio was one out of every 175 Americans. Chapter 7 liquidation filings were down 17% compared with 2010′s figures, while Chapter 13 rehabilitation filings declined 25%.

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Your neighborhood’s 5 dirty little secrets

Think you’ve found the perfect place to live? You might be right. Or maybe not. No matter how much you like a locale at first sight, you should still do some serious research before you make a commitment to buy a house there. Who knows, your perfect neighborhood might have a few secrets you don’t know about.

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Bankruptcies 2012: Doubling down

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Expect the number and size of corporate bankruptcies to double in 2012.

At least that’s what Fitch Ratings is saying and experts seem to agree that more will be coming down the pike.

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Increase in short sales give market a little breathing room

It’s a tarnished silver lining for people at risk of losing their houses and homeowners in neighborhoods blighted by bank-owned properties, but the robosigning scandal that slowed the foreclosure process to a crawl appears to have increased lender interest in short sales.

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Foreclosures Take Twice As Long To Process Now As They Did In 2007: Study

If the American housing market is ever to recover — and provide some momentum to a broader economic turnaround — it needs to work its way through the millions of foreclosed properties that have yet to be processed and auctioned off. But those cases are taking longer and longer to get through.

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Gain in U.S. Consumer Confidence Exceeds Forecasts: Economy

(Bloomberg) — Confidence among consumers rose to an eight-month high in December as an improving job market helped Americans regain all the ground lost following the mid- year government budget battle and credit-rating downgrade.

The Conference Board’s index increased to 64.5, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey and the highest since April, from a revised 55.2 reading in November, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. Another report showed home prices fell more than projected in October.

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Foreclosures May Delay Housing Rebound to 2013

The two-bedroom Denver row house that Kyle and Jennifer Zinth bought in 2005 is a tight fit now that they have an 18-month-old son, Max, and a coonhound named Beauregard. They plan to put it up for sale next month, hoping to at least break even so they can buy a larger home.

“My understanding is it’s a better time to buy than sell,” Kyle Zinth, 34, a paralegal, said in a telephone interview. “If we can get out of this one without financial harm and get a good deal on the next place, then that’s ideal under present market realities.”

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