"The ongoing housing correction is not ending as quickly as it might have appeared late last year.

"And it now looks like it will continue to adversely impact our economy, our capital markets, and many homeowners for some time yet. Even so, I believe we have a healthy, diversified economy that will continue to grow . . . .

"But let me be clear, despite strong economic fundamentals, the housing decline is still unfolding and I view it as the most significant current risk to our economy. The longer housing prices remain stagnant or fall, the greater the penalty to our future economic growth."

That grim assessment came from U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. during remarks he made today at  Georgetown University Law Center. (Read Secretary Paulson's entire remarks here.)

Paulson's comments about the slumping American housing market came the same day that RealtyTrac released its latest figures. Almost 244,000 foreclosure filings were reported in August 2007, a 36 percent climb from July 2007 and a 115 percent surge from a year earlier, reports RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure- property marketplace based in Irvine, California. (Foreclosure filings include default notices, auction-sale notices, and bank repossessions.) For detailed foreclosure information, click here.