Amid realities of real estate markets, the impact of major price shifts on seniors can be significant.  The impact is revealed in news today from south of the border, where The Wall Street Journal reports a growing number of older Americans are among the hardest hit in home foreclosures.  More than 1.5 million U.S. homeowners age 50 or older lost their homes to foreclosures (2007 through 2011).  Sixteen percent of mortgages made to this segment of the population, a total of 3.5 million loans, were worth more than the real estate they were used to buy.  “The situation appears even worse for those age 75 and older.”  Details uncovered in the research tell stories both sad and tragic in the cost for older homeowners who often count on home equity to help finance retirement.