General Growth Exits Bankruptcy emerged Tuesday from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending the largest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history. The restructuring included splitting General Growth in half, creating General Growth Properties, which continues to own and operate malls, and The Howard Hughes Corp., which took over the company’s planned communities and other non-mall opportunities. [...]

Freddie Mac reports that rates on fixed mortgages again fell to their lowest levels in decades this past week, with the average interest on 15-year loans dipping to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent a week earlier, and the average interest for 30-year loans sliding to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent. That is the lowest since [...]

Consumer confidence and business spending are key to whether the U.S. housing market will move into a virtuous or a vicious cycle in 2011, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed audience at the Residential Economic Outlook Forum Friday in New Orleans. After the downturn, the housing market has clawed its way back to [...]

ZipRealty says in its third quarter report that homes in key markets all over the country are selling above the asking price. The report shows that the spread between the sales-to-list price ratio lessened significantly in most markets, but high-end housing markets in many areas continued to offer great bargains for buyers. The 10 hottest [...]

Washington, October 25, 2010 Existing-home sales rose again in September, affirming that a sales recovery has begun, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 10.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September from a downwardly revised [...]

If you could live in any state, except the one you live in now, what state would you choose to live in? The Harris Poll has asked this question every year since 1997. While California tops the list of most popular states to live in among Echo Boomers (now ages 18 to 33) and Gen [...]

Even with their retirement nest eggs diminished by the tough economy, some retirees aren’t giving up on their dreams of living in beautiful spots. Instead, they are searching for similar but cheaper alternatives. SmartMoney calls these locales “doppelgangers” — more affordable twins with similar climate, culture, and amenities than their better-known other half. Here are [...]

By CATHERINE RAMPELL / New York Times OCTOBER 21, 2010 The typical middle-age American is saving far too little for retirement, and the Employee Benefit Research Institute has estimated the shortfall: an average of $47,732 per individual over the course of that person’s retirement. The number was intended to show how much additional income future retirees — in [...]

Nearly eight out of 10 respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite ongoing challenges with the economy and housing market. That’s according to the 2010 National Housing Pulse Survey, an annual report released today by the National Association of Realtors®. The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found [...]

A major settlement in Chinese drywall litigation was reached Thursday.  A federal judge in New Orleans approved an agreement among home owners, importers, manufacturers, and distributors of Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin (KPT) Chinese drywall.  KPT agreed to remove and replace KPT drywall, as well as all the electrical wiring, gas tubing and appliances from 300 homes [...]