With affordability a huge topic for many homeowners in this country -- after spiking prices and then mortgage ails -- beginning on Monday, hundreds of housing experts and public officials from California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii will gather in Los Angeles to discuss the future of affordable housing in today's climate of rising foreclosures and declining home values.

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development department (HUD) will host the 2 day summit that will focus on the most dire issues surrounding the foreclosure crisis.

RealtyTrac.com, a leading expert in foreclosure stats, has recently reported that "U.S. foreclosure activity in July increased 8 percent from the previous month and 55 percent from July 2007."