REAL ESTATE

U.S. mortgage rates moved still lower in the past week, nearing a record low set in early December, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

Sales of newly built single-family homes rose faster than expected in April to their highest level in nearly two years, government data showed on Wednesday, as buyers signed contracts to benefit from a popular government tax credit.

U.S. mortgage applications to refinance home loans jumped to a seven month high last week as rates neared record lows, but purchase demand remained stuck at a 13-year low.

Single-family home prices were unchanged in March from February, but fell in the first quarter under renewed pressure before federal aid for buyers faded away, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.

The default rate for commercial mortgages held by banks in the first quarter hit its highest level since at least 1992 and is expected to surpass that by year-end and peak in 2011, according to a study by Real Capital Analytics.

The U.S. thrift industry reported its third consecutive quarter of profit, earning $1.82 billion during the first three months of the year.

Located on 40 acres of high-grass prairie in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, and surrounded by more than a hundred acres of meadows, woods, and open fields, the Jackson Meadow residential community.

Financing for U.S. housing still lacks private capital, a sign of a very sick system, said David Stevens, Federal Housing Administration commissioner, told a Mortgage Bankers Association convention on Monday.

The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Monday the U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance giants will launch a standardized method for lenders to submit information on mortgages, including appraisals, by next year.

Sales of previously owned homes rose more than expected in April to a five-month high as buyers rushed to close contracts before the expiry of a homebuyer tax credit.

House prices will manage a small gain in 2010 after the worst crash since the Great Depression but gains in coming years are likely to come slowly, a Reuters poll found.

Home sales in the nine-county San Francisco region continued to shift toward its more expensive markets in April, reducing overall sales and lifting the area's median sales price from year-earlier levels, a report by MDA DataQuick said on Thursday.

U.S. consumers are less interested in buying a foreclosed home than they were a year ago, which could slow a housing market rebound as banks prepare to sell a record number of repossessed properties, according to a survey released on Thursday.

One in every seven U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter behind on payments or in foreclosure, although a peak in unemployment could mean repayment stress is easing, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

New York's wealthy are returning to summer beach retreats in the nearby Hamptons, but the global financial crisis has subdued their tastes and left people wary of flashing cash, real estate experts say.

Mortgage applications declined 27.1 percent last week compared to the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.

Demand for loans to buy U.S. homes shriveled to a 13-year low last week, following the expiration of federal tax credits, while near-record low mortgage rates stoked refinancing, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Home sales in Southern California in April ticked down from a year earlier while the region's median home price jumped more than 15 percent over the same time as the area's housing market marked more small steps toward recovery.

Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped in the latest week, according to real estate website Zillow.com on Tuesday, a move that bodes well for the hard-hit housing market as it copes with the absence of government support.

Housing starts touched a 1-1/2-year high in April, but a drop in building permits to a six-month low implied the housing market recovery may struggle to gain momentum without more government aid.

Manhattan-based designers Chris and Lisa Goode of Goode Green are pioneers in the green roof movement in New York.

U.S. housing starts touched a 1-1/2 year high in April, but a drop in permits to a six-month low suggested housing market recovery will remain slow.

U.S. home-builder sentiment rose in May to the highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, boosted by a homebuyer tax credit and strengthening economy, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday.

The number of struggling homeowners who were current on permanently reduced mortgage payments under the Treasury's housing rescue program grew to 295,348 in April from 227,922 in March, a Treasury report showed on Monday.

Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos issued a disappointing profit forecast for the rest of the year and dampened hopes for robust economic recovery in the second half, sending its shares down 3.8 percent.

With high vacancy rates and extremely low prices, the commercial real estate market is going through tough times. For many practitioners and brokerages today, it's more about survival than success.

U.S. mortgage rates dropped below 5 percent in the latest week, the lowest level in 5 months, boding well for the hard-hit housing market as it copes with the absence of government support, a closely watched survey showed on Thursday.

Foreclosure activity fell in April as lenders repossessed homes at a record pace but started far fewer new actions against struggling homeowners, signaling a plateau in loan failures, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

U.S. mortgage applications rose last week, reflecting a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates reached their lowest level since mid-March, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.