Housing Starts Up 8.2%   Construction of new homes posted the biggest increase in more than two years in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months, a rare bit of good news in what has been the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades. […]

Walkaway Homeowners: Fact or Fiction?   U.S. lenders claim people who owe more on their homes than they’re worth are simply abandoning them, "walking away" from high mortgage payments.   Bankers say the trend is frightening because homeowners in the past have gone to great lengths to avoid foreclosure.   But the Los Angeles Times […]

Consumer Confidence: Worst Since ’92   A key measure of consumer confidence dropped in May to the lowest level in 16 years, as Americans grew more concerned about their jobs and more pessimistic about business conditions. The index has now declined for five months in a row.   The Consumer Confidence Index is a weighted […]