Gregory Holm turns the hose on an abandoned home in a rundown Detroit neighbourhood as part of the "Ice House Detroit" art project. He and colleague Matthew Radune have spent weeks spraying water on the boardedup building - one of tens of thousands in the city - to draw attention to the U.S. housing crisis. The foreclosure rate in Michigan is among the highest in the country, at one in every 225 households. The U.S. National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that pending sales of existing homes rose slightly in December, up 1 per cent over November, thanks in part to the extension of a taxcredit plan for first-time home
buyers. But across the country, the number of vacant homes rose 2.7 per cent in December, pointing to a slow and painful recovery.