Real estate

Apartments were the hottest commercial properties in the Greater Seattle area last year, with buyers collectively spending more on such assets than on the higher-profile office buildings.

Mortgage rates near record lows, an improving job market and gradually easing credit standards will converge to make it the best year for home construction since 2007, say economists.

The pension fund sector owns hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage securities. But MBS holdings are such a small percentage of their portfolios, pensions may not be aware of their heft in the industry.

Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development, said 2015 will be a year of "housing opportunity" as the economy continues its rebound.

Justin Wheeler, who was named CEO last week of Berkadia Commercial, the commercial-mortgage business owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National, said global investors are increasingly betting on U.S. property.

New residential construction in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December, capping the best year since 2007 and signaling the industry will probably keep expanding this year.

Mortgage brokers and nonbank lenders who operate outside the reach of federal bank regulators are thriving in Canada after the country introduced a half-dozen mortgage rules since 2008 to cool its soaring home prices.

In the past, the most prominent tax breaks have generally been treated as equals — the mortgage deduction is pretty much the same as, say, the capital gains preference or the charitable contributions write-off. But they're not equal.

Same-sex married couples who own their homes can now change the way their property is deeded, holding it in a way that wasn't available to them before the same-sex marriage became legal in Florida this month.

Houston-area home sales hit a record high in 2014, but with low oil prices expected to drag down regional growth, the local real estate market is poised for a slower year ahead.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders hovered in January close to a nine-year high, indicating the residential real estate market is poised to expand this year.

First-timers may return to the market in greater numbers this year, however, according to some analysts, who point to low interest rates, a stronger job market and high rents, all of which make buying more attractive.

The city of Owensboro, Ky., has plowed through a complicated process that led to a mass foreclosure action against 21 problem properties, most of them residential. Now, the city has its sights on another set of similar problem properties for foreclosure.

Home equity lines of credit dried up during the housing collapse, but the emergency cash is making a comeback.

North Texas real estate agents sold a record number of houses in 2014, with a year-end surge in home purchases and construction was prompted by lower mortgage rates and economic expansion in Dallas-Fort Worth, housing analysts say.

A recently launched program in New York state is helping distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure.

If you don't take control of your business, don't set up a plan and don't take your life by the horns, you're going to continue to be miserable.

Commercial mortgage-backed security performance could come under further strain this year, as the underwriting on the underlying commercial mortgages continues to loosen. Here are eight indicators to consider in sizing up the CMBS market this year.

Take one day to commit to finishing each and every item on your to do list, instead of just rolling things over to the next day.

Two Harbors' first residential mortgage securitization of the year doesn't exactly break any new ground.