(MCT) — WASHINGTON — Lost in the campaign arguments over who’s to blame for a weak economy and sluggish hiring is what has and hasn’t been done to improve home sales and housing finance, key causes of the nation’s severe financial crisis and ones that continue to drag against a robust recovery.

Two factors still bedevil housing: a huge inventory of foreclosed homes in the hands of banks and the federal government, and a huge number of homes that carry mortgages that are valued more than the dwellings are worth now — “underwater” mortgages.