Housing News

Home sales increased 15.5 percent in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area in January compared with the same month of 2011, according the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.

Can you think back to 2001, financially speaking, when we had a wobbly economy shaken by the terror attacks of 9/11? What you if you were told back then that Orange County housing in the following 10 years would crank out price gains equal to 3.6 percent per year.

Washington -- The $26 billion settlement reached last week by state attorneys general to aid distressed homeowners, nearly half of it going to California, doesn't much dent $7 trillion.

Neighbor John "J.D." Wilson peers into the vacant house next door in Covington that had been left in disarray by squatters in the fall.

BEIJING, Feb. 11 -- An east China city that has sparked attention with its housing subsidies has said the policies are aimed at dousing speculation of a potential loosening of property market controls.

The number of houses actively listed for sale continued to fall last month in the Fredericksburg area, according to January housing data released Friday.

An open concept kitchen/living room includes a wine cooler and a gas fireplace at David Crawford's laneway house in North Vancouver.

In New Jersey, as the housing market tumbles further, landlords are increasingly giving concessions in addition to lowering asking prices, the New York Times reported.

ENERGY Loan program loss potential The government could lose nearly $3 billion on Energy Department loans for green-energy programs - far less than the $10 billion Congress set aside for the high-risk program, according to an independent review.

Mild winter weather and low prices helped boost January home sales 12 percent over a year ago.

In this week's edition, the Kansas City Business Journal ranks the area's top residential real estate firms based on 2011 gross sales.

In North Dakota, mining in the oil- and gas-rich Bakken formation has led to the fastest rate of job growth in the country.

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke says people are spending less because they are stuck in "underwater" homes, which are worth less than what is owed on the mortgage.

Mortgage relief aimed at trying to boost lagging housing sector. Most of the $25 billion mortgage relief will go to homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.

Crystal Morello's family pleaded for months with their lender for a cheaper mortgage on their family home in Belleville, Michigan.

The list of housing markets showing measurable improvement expanded by 29 metros in February to include a total of 98 entries on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index , released recently.

Prices for new homes in Canada edged up in December, led by the Toronto and Montreal regions, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed at a record low this week, providing some added incentive for those looking to buy a home or refinance.

Listing agent Justine Galdorise-Alfano from Weichert Realtors looks out the door of a Willow Grove Road home in Middletown during an open house last November.

The city of Pontiac, Mich., showed off some of its former foreclosed homes this week, polished with federal dollars and featuring new kitchens, bathrooms, windows, flooring and roofs.