If you’re a homeowner seeing property values plummet, look to the commercial real estate market for solace. It might tell you which areas will recover fastest – and which will likely remain weak.
The Urban Land Institute recently asked 700 real estate professionals to name the best (and worst) places to invest in commercial real estate [...]

The first snowy day in West Michigan means several things, including the home buying season is coming to a close.
Last month the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors released its latest numbers.
They reflect that banks are taking the worst hit.
The association is reporting 63% of all homes on the market are either short-sale, or in foreclosure.
The [...]

Hope is quietly spreading across the lifeless Staten Island real estate market following the Obama victory that the new president will take immediate action to help homeowners.
Trudy Scafiddi, who is trying hard to save her Huguenot home, symbolizes the kind of troubled constituent President-elect Barack Obama will face when he takes office in January.
She and [...]

ORLANDO, Fla. Nov. 7, 2008 Pending home sales fell on the heels of a strong gain a month earlier as credit tightened and economic conditions deteriorated, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September, declined 4.6 percent to 89.2 from [...]

There was no denying the Seattle-area’s real estate funk at Williams Marketing’s annual forecast breakfast Friday.
Kicking off the event, Williams President Leslie Williams noted that area real estate professionals were feeling good a year ago about how the market was holding up much better than others.
“Now Seattle’s getting their butt kicked, too,” she said.
Seattle has [...]

NEW YORK – Nov. 5, 2008 – What does being “underwater” in your house really mean? Probably not that you’re drowning.
The number of underwater homeowners – those who owe more on their mortgages than their home is now worth – has been growing sharply since 2006 as real-estate prices have tumbled. By some estimates, between [...]

WASHINGTON – Nov. 4, 2008 – With an unstable American economy and slowdowns in the housing market, most consumers are open to the federal government taking a more active role in overseeing mortgage and lending practices, according to the 2008 National Housing Pulse Survey, an annual survey released today by the National Association of Realtors.
The [...]

Rising rents in the Boston area are forcing families to spend a higher portion of their income on housing costs, according to the Boston Foundation’s Housing Report Card, which was released yesterday.
Globe reporter Kimberly Blanton writes about the foundation report and rent prices in the city in today’s Business section.
At the same time, renter incomes [...]

WASHINGTON – Oct. 28, 2008 – Each day from July through September, more than 2,700 Americans lost their homes in foreclosure.
That number, up from 1,200 per day a year ago, is a sign that the mortgage industry and government programs have done little to help troubled homeowners.
The mortgage market’s troubles have proved to be far [...]

The Justice Department is gearing up to probe potential scams targeting distressed homeowners in San Joaquin Valley.
Last week, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Modesto, urged Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate mortgage-reduction schemes now being marketed through the Valley. For an upfront fee, homeowners are being told, their monthly mortgage payments can be renegotiated.
At best, the homeowners [...]