REAL ESTATE

Pending sales of previously owned homes rose to a four-month high in August, implying the housing market was regaining some stability after recent steep declines following the end of a home-buyer tax credit.

Predatory lending aimed at racially segregated minority neighborhoods led to mass foreclosures that fueled the U.S. housing crisis, according to a new study published in the American Sociological Review.

Connecticut's attorney general on Friday called on state courts to freeze home foreclosures for 60 days after borrowers claimed that major lenders may be making misstatements in the foreclosure process.

A Maine state court judge reprimanded GMAC mortgage over its foreclosure practices and concluded that it submitted a company official's affidavit to support a foreclosure in bad faith.

Yet another reason to contemplate a trip to Sydney: the newish Bison Ceramics store, spotted a while back on Decor 8 (with images by Australian photographer Jillian Leiboff).

While in Seattle this summer, I made my annual visit to Inform Interiors and spotted the Tom Dixon marble-topped screw table. The table is stunning—a modern industrial take on the cafe table that is at once glamorous and utilitarian, practical yet luxurious. My encounter with the Tom Dixon table inspired me to round up a collection of high and low-priced favorite round tables—perfect for an eat-i...

Fallout over GMAC Mortgage's foreclosure practices deepened on Tuesday as Ohio's top law enforcement official asked courts in that state to review all foreclosure cases involving the Ally Financial Inc unit.

U.S. mortgage-backed securities issuance jumped in the first nine months of 2010 from the same period a year earlier as credit markets loosened up and investors' risk appetite improved

An outcry over questionable foreclosures by GMAC Mortgage and other lenders is likely to hit some states more than others because of major differences in real estate law across the nation.

If you work in real estate, you undoubtedly do the following tasks all of the time, but did you know that you could be putting yourself in danger?

Newly opened on Melrose Place in LA and already causing a frisson in the design world: The Melrose Project, an antiques and art collaborative curated by mother/son team Kathleen Clements and Tommy Clements (see their rug designs at Woven Accents).

U.S. 30-year and 15-year mortgage rates either tied or reached record lows in the latest week, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

Nearly one in every four U.S. homes sold in the second quarter was a deeply discounted foreclosed house, putting the market on pace to work through distressed properties in about three years.

The U.S. Congress on Thursday voted to extend higher loan limits for government-backed mortgages, a move that should help keep borrowing costs low and support the shaky housing sector.

As many as 30 million U.S. homeowners would be able to refinance their mortgage at record low interest rates regardless of their credit situation under a plan unveiled on Tuesday by a Democratic lawmaker.

U.S. mortgage applications fell for a fourth straight week, reflecting the inability of many homeowners to take advantage of record low interest rates, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Fannie Mae, the largest provider of funding for U.S. home mortgages, on Wednesday said its mortgage investment portfolio shrank in August, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees slowed significantly in the month prior.

Consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since February in September, underscoring lingering worries about the stremgth of the economic recovery, while home prices dipped in July.

Single-family home prices dipped in July, hovering above multi-year lows absent the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April, according a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price report on Tuesday.

Despite severe restrictions on tobacco advertising, youths are still too often exposed to media depicting smoking and drinking in a favorable light, according to one group of doctors.

New orders for a wide range of long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose in August and business spending plans rebounded strongly, the latest sign a sharp summer slowdown in the economy was abating.

New U.S. single-family home sales were flat in August, but the supply of houses on the market tumbled to the lowest level in 42 years, government data showed on Friday.

Delinquencies on U.S. home mortgages fell slightly in the three months through June, though the number of homeowners who lost their homes rose sharply from the first quarter

Freddie Mac said on Friday that its mortgage portfolio shrank in August as did its total debt outstanding, while delinquency rates on loans it guarantees were mixed.

Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration's new consumer financial protection czar, said on Thursday that banks are showing early receptiveness to her plans for simplifying their disclosures to consumers.

More than half of the 1.3 million homeowners initially helped by the Obama administration's marquee foreclosure prevention program have since dropped out.

U.S. officials are not discussing renewal of a popular homebuyer tax credit that expired in April, President Barack Obama's top housing adviser said on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and special advisor Elizabeth Warren said they intend to make mortgage language simpler so consumers can make better choices as they opened a forum on the topic on Tuesday.

Groundbreaking for new U.S. homes jumped in August to a four-month high, a tentative sign of stability in the housing market after steep declines brought by the end of a homebuyer tax credit.