By Stephanie Sims Imagine finding your dream home – then finding out that the home was used as a meth lab by its previous owners. No, this isn’t an idea for Breaking Bad to live on after its series

By Peter Ricci Home prices increased 4.6 percent year-over-year in August in the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index, which is the largest yearly increase in more than six years. Indeed, not since July 2006 have home prices risen as

By Peter Ricci Realogy, the real estate services company that owns Coldwell Banker and Century 21, is planning on going public late next week, and its IPO is expected to raise more than $1 billion from investors, according to

Residential construction spending increased 0.9 percent from July to August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $273.5 billion, according to new numbers out today from the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, private construction spending was down by 0.5 percent from

By Peter Ricci When you’re around the housing industry long enough, you begin to see the common traits of valuable real estate – strong schools, great trim work, decent lots, and of course, the specific geographical location of the

By Peter Ricci Autumn is a season of many things – pumpkins, darkening foliage, and, of course, Jack Skellington – but it is not a season known for selling homes. As many an agent will attest, home sellers often

By Peter Ricci Shadow housing inventory declined by 1.2 million in the first half of 2012, according to a new study by JPMorgan Chase of the ominous housing stock. The shadow market peaked at six million in 2010, and JPMorgan estimates

By Peter Ricci Who says the political process doesn’t effect homebuying? According to a new survey from MortgageMarvel.com, 25 percent of Americans are taking the upcoming presidential election into consideration in their homebuying decisions. Conducted online by Harris Interactive, the survey

By Peter Ricci The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) declined in August, falling 2.6 percent from July but rising 10.7 percent from August 2011. The index fell from an upwardly-revised 101.9 in July

By Peter Ricci Mitt Romney doubled down on his earlier promises and commitments for the U.S. housing market late last week, releasing a white paper that contained more information about some of the policy initiatives floated on his campaign

By Peter Ricci New residential home sales increased 27.7 percent year-over-year in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 373,000, according to the latest joint report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban development. From

Home prices in Texas remained strong as ever in July, with Dallas posting yet another solid month of growth in the July Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, rising 3.7 percent year-over-year in July. Standard & Poor’s does not track home prices

By Peter Ricci The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate declined by 10.6 percent year-over-year in the August First Look report from Lender Processing Services, an analytics firm that studies the mortgage markets and real estate industries. A study of approximately

In an effort to recover past losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is considering new g-fees in five states most affected by the housing downturn. Labeling its losses as “exceptionally high,” the FHFA has selected Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,

By Peter Ricci Well, so much for our Trulia IPO skepticism – the real estate website became the latest tech darling yesterday when it’s stock hit the New York Stock Exchange, rising 41 percent and closing at $24 a

By Peter Ricci Multitasking is more than a catchy phrase uttered at business symposiums and on trade magazine websites; rather, it’s a survival mechanism, a key to successfully managing the endless array of tasks we all must completely on