REAL ESTATE

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Housing starts, permits rise in March

U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in March to their highest level since November 2008 and permits to build new homes scaled a 17-month peak, offering hope the housing market recovery remained on course.

Mortgage rates fall for 1st time in 5 weeks

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U.S. mortgage rates have fallen for the first time in five weeks, retreating from an eight-month high and remaining near historically low levels, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday.

U.S. foreclosure actions spike in Q1 despite aid

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U.S. home foreclosures actions spiked in March and set a quarterly record despite federal programs to combat the unrelenting pace that homeowners are defaulting on mortgages, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
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London City tower for sale with 300 mln stg pricetag

London City skyscraper Tower 42 is up for sale with a 300 million pounds ($461 million) pricetag as owners BlackRock and Hermes seek to profit from spiralling demand in the UK's stock-starved property market.
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Mortgage investors see headway on 2nd-liens

On March 17, 2009, a group of mortgage bond investors worried about the losses they could suffer as a result of U.S. foreclosure prevention plans asked top bankers to share the pain by taking some write-downs on $450 billion in home equity loans.
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Ex-CEO blames Fannie Mae failure on hybrid status

Fannie Mae did not abandon its goals of increasing homeownership for poorer Americans in pursuit of higher profits, as some have alleged, said Daniel Mudd, the chief executive of the company who was ousted by the government in 2008.
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Distressed home sales levels near 2009 peak

Sales of foreclosed or other distressed homes are flirting with the peaks of the housing crisis in early 2009 when heavy inventory was pressuring home prices lower, according to First American CoreLogic.
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Canadian home prices rose in Q1, survey shows

A continued rise in consumer confidence helped push up Canadian home sales and prices in the first quarter, but interest rate hikes expected later this year should cool the market.
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Home purchase loan demand steady as refis sink

U.S. mortgage rates spiked last week, slashing refinancing demand, while requests for home purchase loans held steady amid a final rush for federal tax credits, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed on Wednesday.
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Retail property gouged by record vacancies

Vacancy rates at U.S. shopping centers and malls rose to the highest levels in at least 10 years in the first quarter, accompanied by a drop in rents that wiped out years of growth, research firm Reis Inc said on Wednesday.
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Most Americans say now is time to buy a house: poll

Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the time is right to buy a house, with a majority believing prices will be the same or higher over the next year, according to a Fannie Mae survey released on Tuesday.
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Ten indicted on NY home mortgage fraud charges

Two real estate brokers, three lawyers and five others were charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $10 million in home loans from American Home Mortgage Investment Corp and BNC Mortgage, a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, U.S. prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday.
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Mortgage insurer stocks rally but worries remain

U.S. mortgage insurers' stocks have touched new year-highs on confidence about success of the government's plan to let homeowners keep their homes, but the big question is how much steam the rally has left.
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Office vacancy rate hits 16-year high

The U.S. office vacancy rate in the first quarter reached its highest level in 16 years, but the decline in rents eased and crept closer to stabilization, according to a report by real estate research firm Reis Inc.
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Architect Visit: Peter Himmelstein in NYC

This five-story Gramercy Park townhouse is owned by Carin van der Donk and actor Vincent D'Onofrio (of Law and Order fame) who enlisted architect Peter Himmelstein to completely renovate the structure in 2007.
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Obama admin expands housing hardest hit fund

The Obama administration on Monday unveiled another bailout program for troubled homeowners, pledging to divert $600 million in housing rescue funds to 5 more states on its list of hardest-hit markets.
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Banks' mortgage cuts walk consumer tightrope

Bank of America Corp has agreed to forgive some bad mortgage loans and the government is pushing other lenders to follow suit, but on a scale too small to make much of a dent in the nation's huge pile of bad debt.
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Amid housing downturn, Toll downsizes its homes

Toll Brothers Inc, which dominates the market for large, expensive houses known as McMansions, is shrinking its square footage as the worst housing market downturn since the Great Depression grinds on.
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Mortgage rates rise 2nd straight week: Freddie Mac

U.S. mortgage rates rose for a second straight week, a trend that could continue as key support from the government ceases at the end of the month, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday.
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Serious mortgage delinquencies jump in Q4

Serious delinquencies among mortgages jumped in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, led by a sharp increase in serious delinquencies by the most credit-worthy borrowers, U.S. banking regulators said on Thursday.
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Greenspan says U.S. house prices still fragile

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday U.S. house prices appeared to have bottomed out but were still fragile and that the country would not be out of crisis until prices stabilized.
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U.S. new home sales unexpectedly fall in Feb

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes fell for a fourth straight month to a record low in February, a government report showed on Wednesday, heightening fears of renewed weakness in the housing market.

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