REAL ESTATE

The Obama administration's latest effort to boost the beleaguered housing market is likely to help mortgage insurers as lower defaults will boost their liquidity.

U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are working on a program to help independent mortgage banks get access to short-term credit needed to make home loans, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. office vacancy rate reached a five-year high in the third quarter, pushed up by extra unused space that just about wiped out all the gains made during the commercial real estate boom, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

A U.S. Federal Reserve report found that banks in the country are slow to take losses on their commercial real estate loans that have been hit by slumping property values and rental payments, the Wall Street Journal said. Citing a Sept 29 presentation made by Fed analyst K.C. Conway to banking regulators, the paper said the report's remarks suggested that regulators were preparing for a rerun of h...

U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Young people just starting to invest and buying their first homes are potentially the winners in this recession.

Twitter CEO Evan Williams has taken his loft-for-sale listing viral.

Excessive real estate strength in Canada from ultralow mortgage rates could push the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates sooner or more aggressively than forecast, according to a TD Economics report on Tuesday.

The U.S. apartment market in the third quarter turned in one of its weakest performances ever as the national vacancy rate hit a 23-year high despite being propped up by landlords willing to take lower rent to keep tenants, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

The long U.S. housing downturn has led homeowners to scale back both the size of houses and the amenities found within them, but consumers are still willing to invest in energy efficiency, according to a quarterly survey by an architects' trade group.

With the population aging and fewer young people to take the place of baby boomers, the demand for housing may slow for years to come, keeping home values from increasing as they have done since World War II, according to at least one well-known housing expert.

More than 80 percent of new single-family homes have at least two bathrooms, which occupy an average of 300 square feet of floor space, or 12 percent of the total area, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders.

Norway has retained its status as the world's most desirable country to live in, according to U.N. data released on Monday, which ranks sub-Saharan African states afflicted by war and HIV/AIDS as the least attractive places.

China Real Estate Information Corp, a provider of real estate information and consulting services, is planning to raise up to $248 million in a U.S.-listed initial public offering set for Oct 16.

Cities and municipalities are having trouble spending the money allotted by the controversial Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was passed by Congress last year to acquire houses in blighted neighborhoods.

Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke made a case to Congress on Thursday that the Fed needed additional powers to oversee banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, and others. He also admitted that the Fed hasn’t done a good job protecting consumers but said improvements are being made.

More investors are likely to move capital into real estate over the next couple of years to scoop up bargains even as the distress that has long plagued residential real estate broadens and takes hold in the commercial sector, a top restructuring expert said.

A fall of more than 10 percent in the average apartment price in Manhattan in the third quarter from a year earlier attracted buyers who pushed up the number of sales by over 45 percent in just one quarter, industry reports showed Friday.

The average rate on 30-year U.S. home loans fell in the past week to retest record lows, helping stimulate housing demand, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

Pending home sales have increased for seven straight months, the longest in the series of the index which began in 2001, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS.

Foreclosures and other distressed property might look like a good deal, but some buyers are discovering that they just don’t have the stomach for the problems that come with it.

Nearly one third of people who applied for a mortgage last year were denied, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes rose sharply in August, for a seventh consecutive month of gains, reaching the highest since March 2007, data from a real estate trade group showed on Thursday.

U.S. News & World Report released its picks in its October issue for the best affordable places to retire.

Rookie real estate agents generally are nervous about their first listing appointment, but there are some measures they can take to make it a good experience for themselves and their careers.

A study of 24 million credit files by national credit bureau Experian and consulting company Oliver Wyman has shown that home owners with high credit scores are 50 percent more likely to deliberately walk away from a mortgage than lower-scoring borrowers.

China Real Estate Information Corp, a provider of real estate information and consulting services, is planning to raise up to $200 million in a U.S.-listed initial public offering.

Freddie Mac said on Wednesday it plans to sell about $1 billion of multifamily mortgage-backed securities next week and expects new issues at least quarterly.

The number of home foreclosures in process and delinquent mortgages rose during the second quarter, while home retention actions also rose, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday.