The foreclosure crisis isn't hitting Pittsburgh and the rest of the state as hard as it is other, more over-valued housing markets. But Pennsylvania is still in need of a housing trust fund that would help state residents make mortgage payments and home repairs, says Liz Hersh, director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Such a fund would require an act of the Legislature, which has just a few work days remaining before the election recess and the end of its work year.

It intends to take up the issue this week.

"State leaders have a role to play in fixing the housing market, which is clearly broken," Ms. Hersh said.

But even if lawmakers create a housing trust fund as one of the final acts of the 2007-2008 legislative session, nobody is quite sure where the state will find money to seed the fund, given that the state Revenue Department is reporting that Pennsylvania's revenue collections from July to September were $281.4 million, or 4.7 percent, behind budget forecasts.

Early versions of the legislation to create the fund called for a $10 million appropriation, but that funding amount was eliminated from the bills, meaning the size of the fund -- and its revenue source -- would probably be negotiated during next year's spring budget talks.

Would that be too little, too late?

Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon, who noted the fund has been debated for more than a year (well in advance of the summer's lousy economic news), says the fund will be a useful tool even after the height of the home crisis passes. But finding the money for the fund is another matter, even if $10 million is modest by state budget standards.

"The reality is, we're having problems right now with the revenue," Mr. Pippy said. "Ten million is the goal, [but] next year is looking to be one of the more challenging years" in terms of budgeting.

Identical versions of the bills have been introduced in the House and Senate. Both call for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to manage the trust fund, using the extra cash to do more of what it already does -- the money will help build homes in distressed areas, help homeowners renegotiate into more affordable loans and provide counseling for borrowers. Both bills also specify that at least 30 percent of the fund will go toward programs for families earning less than 50 percent of the area's median area.

More than 100 cities and counties, as well as 38 states, have established such funds.

If the program proves valuable, the fund could be reseeded each year, Mr. Pippy said.

But does Pennsylvania really need it? And more specifically, does Pittsburgh? Amid waves of bad news nationally, Pittsburgh's housing market continues to be an enigma, primarily because the region never partook in the housing boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. While home sales -- both the number of sales and the values of the homes sold -- continue to drop here, foreclosures in the Pittsburgh region have dropped for two straight months, and are on pace to match last year's numbers. People can't sell their homes, but at least they aren't losing them in large numbers.

Or perhaps Pittsburgh is just late to the party. If job losses continue to mount nationally, people who once were able to make payments might find that even a home in Pittsburgh isn't affordable.

"It's all a matter of proportion," said Ms. Hersh. "You can have the cheapest house on the block, but if it's more than you can afford, then it doesn't really matter."

Even if the mortgage fund never comes to pass, those Pittsburgh-area homeowners who are struggling may be able to find help via another pot of money. Late last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development directed $2 million to Pittsburgh and $5.5 million to Allegheny County, to be used by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The HUD program provides "emergency assistance to state and local governments [to] purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and to rehabilitate, resell or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods," according to HUD.

The state also continues to operate the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program -- homeowners who have gotten behind on payments can ask the state to pay the mortgage lender. The homeowner then repays the state fund.