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U.S. home builders broke ground on more apartment buildings in October, driving housing starts up 3 percent to an unexpected seasonally adjusted rate of 1.229 million, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The vast majority of metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier, despite a broad decline in existing-home sales, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors.

There are so many ways real estate professionals can get snagged by a lawsuit that it's hard to keep track of everything that poses a risk. But by looking at each transaction through the eyes of the buyer, you can protect yourself, trainer and author Barbara Nichols said at the 2007 NAR Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

“2007 has been a year of challenge; 2008 will be a year of opportunity for serious buyers and for REALTORS®,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed house at the NAR Conference Tuesday.

Home prices have risen in five major markets, while continuing to fall in the rest of the country, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for August, released Tuesday.

LAS VEGAS, November 13, 2007 - A new consumer survey shows that buyers and sellers are very satisfied with their real estate professionals. Home buyers use many tools in the transaction process, and both buyers and sellers highly value the personal touch and services real estate professionals offer. The survey was released here today at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.

LAS VEGAS, November 13, 2007 - The level of for-sale-by-owner transactions remains at a record low, according to the National Association of Realtors® 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. The survey was released today at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, here through November 16.

When a market goes through uncertain times, investor caution reigns. And whether you're talking about the housing market or the financial services sector, there's been so much bad news lately that it makes sense for buyers and investors to remain wary.

Real estate professionals who want to work in property auctions need to adopt a new way of thinking, says Ted Cucuro, a senior broker associate with Sheldon Good & Co., Chicago. “We do everything in reverse,” Cucuro told attendees of an educational session at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pat V. Combs, president of the National Association of Realtors, today urged Realtors to help restore confidence in the real estate market by educating the public about the value of housing as a good long-term investment. With the market's positive economic fundamentals, 2007 is turning out to be one of strongest years on record, she said.

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recently media attention has been heavily focused on the difficulties home sellers face with the current glut of inventory and the tightening of the sub-prime mortgage market. However, according to a Fall member survey and report from the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, home buyers are also facing new challenges.

After the Short Sale: Taxing What Isn't There Too often, real estate practitioners are unaware of the tax liabilities arising from the cancellation of debt and fail to advise their clients accordingly.

Washington, D.C., Oct 31, 2007 -- “The financial tremors caused by the on-going subprime crisis have badly cracked and damaged one of the bedrocks of the American dream – the ability to own a home. When I met with Fed Chairman Bernanke in August, he assured me that the Fed would use all of the tools at its disposal to deal with the current crisis in our housing and financial markets.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Genesis Foundation Inc. (Genesis) and Home Downpayment Gift Foundation, Inc. (HDGF), both 501(c)3 charitable entities dedicated to helping low and moderate income families create and maintain homeownership, announced today that it has prevailed in its temporary injunction in the Unites State District Court.

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 26, 2007 - The Justice Department announced the results of Operation Home Sweet Home, the Attorney General’s initiative to expose housing discrimination in America. In Fiscal Year 2007, the Department conducted a record number of undercover housing discrimination investigations, filed 30 lawsuits alleging unlawful housing discrimination, and obtained settlements and judgments requiring the payment of over $5 million in monetary damages to victims of discrimination and civil penalties.

With more than 15,000 home plans to choose from, users may find the task of searching for a new home a bit daunting. But with HDA's new search features, finding that special luxury house plan is a breeze. Consumers are able to search by home plan style, size, and by estimated cost-to-build

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that either being smarter about development or improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America.

Local real estate professionals discussed how to ride out a currently stormy housing market that holds promises of better times ahead at the eighth annual State of Real Estate in the Coachella Valley presentation, held today at the Doral Palm Springs Resort.

OCTOBER 16, 2007 -- The U.S. Census Bureau has released a series of 34 tables on the 40 million Americans who moved between 2005 and 2006, including characteristics of movers by type of move.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice launched a new Web site today to educate consumers and policymakers about the potential benefits that competition can bring to consumers of real estate brokerage services and the barriers that inhibit that competition