Pulte Homes Inc., the No. 4 U.S. home builder, posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday, saying the home building environment significantly worsened and it would not provide a financial forecast.
Pulte reported that its third-quarter net loss narrowed to $280.4 million, or $1.11 per share, but that was wider than the 58 cent per share [...]

U.S. home builders grew more confident about their business in early September, with builder sentiment rising for the first time in seven months, a national industry trade group reported Tuesday.
The builders’ sentiment index rose to 18 in September, from a record low 16 in August, the National Association of Home Builders said. Still, the index [...]

There were predictions as recently as last autumn that the slowdown in home buying and home building would benefit the remodeling industry.
So far, that hasn’t happened. The latest word is that it probably won’t.
“The slumping economy and struggling housing sector continues to drag down spending on home improvements,” said Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the [...]

U.S. home builder sentiment was stuck at a record low in August, as stringent lending and a flood of foreclosed homes dragged on the real estate market, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders released on Monday.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index held at 16 in August for a second straight month, [...]

When home sales began to slow at the start of the downturn, home builders offered buyers incentives — instead of reducing prices — to stimulate demand. The incentives included cars, tuition and credit-card payments, and even cash.
Now, federal investigators are questioning whether some of those incentives misled lenders and caused them to write mortgages that [...]