Walmart is many things to many people – discount chain, multinational corporation, grocery store, and, of course, arbiter of pollution, low-wage jobs and traffic. But a new study from a duo of economists has put a new, interesting perspective

A new survey by Realtor.com has found that prospective homebuyers are more interested in foreclosures than ever before – and in a major way. Since October 2009, homebuyer interest in foreclosures has risen by an incredible 159 percent, which

Costco, the popular warehouse club chain, is a great place for food, office supplies, clothing and…mortgages? Yes indeed – Costco has partnered with First Choice Bank and 10 other lenders to offer home purchasing and refinancing products through its

New pending home sales data from the National Association of Realtors is reporting a 14.4 percent increase from April 2011. The data, which is gleaned from the Pending Home Sales Index, was down monthly by 5.5 percent after three

CoreLogic filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Redfin late last week, alleging that a new home price tool the online brokerage released in March violates an existing patent. A home price estimator, Redfin’s Home Price Tool was designed to give prospective

It’s no mystery that housing has been on a bumpy path since 2007, but the past month, a wide range of data has come out all but endorsing a new housing recovery. From home sales, to interest rates, to

Internet syndication has changed the real estate industry as we know it, but that doesn’t mean that all brokerages want to use it. Edina Realty, the Twin Cities-based brokerage that famously pulled its listings from Trulia, was in the

Housing starts are among the most influential collections of data in the world of real estate, but a Washington Post blog has laid bare some troubling flaws with the data’s collection. Here are the five most notable inconsistencies with the

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced earlier this week its purchase of 437 N Rush, a two-story building that borders the west side of the association’s Chicago headquarters off Michigan Avenue. NAR will now own the entire block

Appraisals – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. A topic we have covered numerous times, appraisals have been a consistent source of headaches for agents in the post-boom market, with contract failures a common result of the

The National Association of Realtors announced this week the merger of its Realtors Federal Credit Union (FCU) with the Northwest Federal Credit Union. The end result of a nine-month inquiry by Bob Goldberg, the senior vice president for sales, marketing,

The housing recovery continued rolling along this morning, with the Commerce Department reporting that new home sales rose 28 percent in the Midwest in April. Nationally, sales rose 3.3 percent from March to April, and 9.9 percent from April

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 1.0 percent from March to April, according to the latest data from NAR, with a yearly increase of 14.4 percent. Nationally, sales were similarly strong, rising 3.4 percent from March and 10.0 percent

RE/MAX  surveyed 1,022 of its residential experts in its quarterly RE/MAX Market Insights, and it found numerous signs of a market recovery in real estate, from pricing data to sales activity. Here’s what we thought were six important takeaways from

Judicial and nonjudicial states have radically different approaches to foreclosure proceedings, and they may produce different recoveries in the appropriate states. Currently, few analysts argue that a housing recovery is not happening; debate still persists, though, on the particulars –

As the housing market progressively recovers in 2012, more and more analysts are noting the shift in consumer demand from single-family to multifamily units. The latest (and most detailed) example is “The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand,” a