Consumer Confidential: Foreclosed homes, lost jobs, new overdraft rules

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Here’s your what-me-worry Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Nearly one out of every three homes sold in the first quarter was in some stage of foreclosure, according to the latest stats from market researcher RealtyTrac. This is actually good news, because compared with the year before, when 37% of home sales involved foreclosure, it represents improving conditions. For buyers, this level of trouble isn’t the worst possible thing. Prices for foreclosed properties run about 27% below homes that are, well, not in distress. The big question now is what banks will do with all the foreclosed properties on their hands. Maybe put them up on eBay?

-- Want to get really depressed? A new report from Pew Research Center finds that more than half of U.S. workers either lost their jobs or experienced cuts in pay or hours since the recession began in December 2007. About 55% of adults in the workforce have been affected by the downturn, Pew found. ‘For the first time, the majority of the unemployed workers had lost their jobs for good,’ it said. ‘Households have adopted a more fiscally conservative path since the recession started.’ Bottom line: We could be years away from recovering the 8 million jobs lost since this whole mess started.

-- On the bright side, this week marks the start of new rules requiring banks to ask customers in advance if they want to opt in for overdraft protection. In the past, many banks simply enrolled people in the programs and then slapped them with hefty fees if they ever spent more than they had in their checking account. But be careful: The new rules apply only to debit cards and ATM withdrawals. Ask your bank what its overdraft policy is for paper checks.

-- David Lazarus