From Bloomberg: Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose less than forecast in March from a year earlier, a sign the housing recovery is cooling. Federal tax credits have succeeded in propping up home sales and prices, raising concern the looming end of government support will spell another round of losses.
Any sustained recovery in housing hinges on maintaining and deepening job growth in the world’s biggest economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Fortune: Americans purchased homes at a surprising clip in April, but don’t let that fool you into thinking the housing market is back. Although economists were expecting a month-over-month increase of 5.5%, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that sales of previously owned homes rose an unexpected 7.6%.
That continued a yearlong rise in housing activity and marked the highest number of sales recorded since November of last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Nasdaq.com: In the US, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 2.3% in Q1 year-on-year compared on a revised 0.7% annualized increase prior quarter. This fell short of analyst expectations of a 2.5% reading.
The National Home Price index fell 3.2% in the first quarter, and 13 of the 20 MSAs covered by the index, as well as both composites, were down. ………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: U.S. home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as record foreclosures added to the inventory of houses on the market.
The annual drop was double the 1.5 percent decline in the fourth quarter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said today in a report. Measured from the prior three months, prices fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter, the Washington-based agency said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Usnews.com: After increasing last summer, U.S. home prices are drifting lower again—a disconcerting development for property owners who had hoped that the real estate market had finally bottomed out.
The S&P Case-Shiller home price report, which was released Tuesday, showed that the U.S. National Home Price Index increased 2 percent in the first quarter of 2010 from the same period a year earlier on a non-seasonally adjusted basis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Usnews.com: Although home sales increased more than expected in April, real estate experts are expressing concern that the market may face renewed downward pressure in the second half of the year.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of previously owned homes in April rose nearly 8 percent from March and nearly 23 percent from a year earlier……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From CNNMoney.com: Going, going, gone: An increasing number of homes are now being sold at auction — rather than through real estate brokers — in an effort to dump properties more quickly and efficiently.
Auctions have increased by about 10% a year since the early 2000s, with homes worth nearly $17 billion sold this way in 2007, according to the National Auctioneers Association……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Some real-estate funds, which raised billions of dollars hoping to pounce on bargain properties, are returning money to investors after finding slim pickings, as many banks avoid dumping property by extending and restructuring loans.
A slew of private-equity funds, including ones run by Morgan Stanley, Rockpoint Group LLC and Chicago developer John Buck’s firm, have taken the unusual step of allowing investors to exit their funding commitments when the funds’ investment period expired……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: The government incentives to buy homes worked, but who knows where we go from here. Existing home sales surged in April as the federal incentives to buy came to an end. This, of course was expected.
We saw a similar pattern last fall when the first iteration of the home buyers’ incentive neared an end. This time, even though long time owner were added to the mix, the run up in sales was not nearly as dramatic. Indeed, the peak was about ten% lower……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Canadian home ownership costs are rising and affordability is eroding, while overvalued house prices are due for a correction in the coming year or two, a pair of reports by banks said on Tuesday.
CIBC World Markets’ new Home Ownership Affordability Index found home ownership was within reach for most Canadians but increasingly difficult for some. It also said about 17 percent of all dwellings in the country were above fair value……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Propertyshowrooms.com: Individuals looking to invest in real estate in Brazil should do so quickly, rather than wait for the economic situation in Europe to improve. This is the view of Samantha Gore, sales manager at property portal uv10, who believes that the country offers the stability and growth that investors are looking for.
According to the expert, the prospects for long-term investors in the country are good, with a strong economy, low levels of credit, improving infrastructure and the forthcoming 2014 Fifa World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games boosting its appeal……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Concerns about a double-dip recession and weak demand for space may put the brakes on the rise in U.K. commercial-property values that has been under way since last summer.
U.K. commercial-property values have risen 14% since August, according to Investment Property Databank, a London firm that tracks commercial-property values. U.K. property values rose 11% in the 12 months to the end of April, the strongest rise since the 12 months ending in February 2007……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Telegraph: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is to put on hold spending decisions on social housing projects and its Kickstart programme, which invests in restarting mothballed private housing developments, after it emerged £780m of previously agreed funding may be pulled.
As part of £6.2bn of spending cuts announced by Chancellor George Osborne on Monday, the HCA was told to cut £230m from its budget. Yesterday, the agency confirmed this will lead to £100m being chopped from the £2.4bn social housing programme, and £50m from Kickstart’s £420m budget for this year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Property-abroad.com: Marriot Hotel Group has displayed its faith in the Middle East/Africa region by announcing that it is planning to build another 40 hotels in the region in the next five years.
Between now and 2016, the group plans to open properties in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: Commercial real estate (CRE) lenders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remain wary and with many sponsors having insufficient equity to support their loans, CMBS loan and transaction restructurings were a main theme during Q1 2010, says Moody’s Investors Service in its latest Surveillance Report for the sector.
“Most borrowers of CMBS loans that matured during Q1 2010 could not repay or refinance their loan, and the loans either had their maturity date extended, or defaulted and underwent a subsequent restructuring rather than loan enforcement,” says Viola Karoly, a Moody’s Analyst and co-author of the report……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thenational.ae: Homeowners will be able to take complete control of the management of their buildings and communities after guidelines allowing the implementation of the emirate’s long-awaited “strata law” were released yesterday.
The law will mean that homeowners associations will be able to select companies in charge of the upkeep of facilities such as lifts, foyers, swimming pools and gardens, taking that decision out of the hands of developers and potentially reducing residents’ costs……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Aabar Investments has set up a joint venture with regional investors to build a Hilton managed hotel on Jordan’s Dead Sea waterfront, part of a $1 billion development in the area, shareholders said on Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi-listed Aabar will hold a 45 percent stake in the newly set up Dead Sea Resort Company, while the rest of the stake will be held by Jordan’s Dead Sea Touristic and Real Estate Investment Company, a private holding company, whose largest shareholder is Dubai’s Emaar Properties………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Theasset.com: Asian real estate executives expect their businesses to recover gradually during the remainder of 2010 and through 2011, buoyed in particular by positive long-term growth trends for China and India, which boost overall regional prospects.
These are the findings of a survey conducted by global professional services firm FPL Advisory Group in partnership with the Asian Public Real Estate Association (APREA), which promotes and represents the real estate sector on a regional basis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Property-report.com: Officials from Bhutan were in Thailand last week to discover more about the city of Pattaya and its real estate market. A total of 14 bankers and officers from the mountain kingdom visited the offices of Five Star Villas & Condos, where they were briefed about the work of the Real Estate Brokers Association – Eastern Seaboard.
Robert Watson, of the company, spoke to the visitors about valuing property within Pattaya, and the state of the local real estate market……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Vietnamnet.vn: The land prices in some areas in Hanoi, especially in Ba Vi area, have been skyrocketing over the last month. Experts have warned about a ‘bubble’ which may do harm to the real estate market.
Experts have every reason to worry about the new ‘land price fever’ as land prices in some areas in Hanoi have increased by 35-40 percent, while the number of successful transactions has increased by 25-30 percent. Ba Vi area proves to be the ‘hottest’ area in Hanoi, when all people rush to purchase land in the area……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Japanese real estate asset manager Kenedix Inc said on Tuesday that it plans to launch a 10 billion yen ($110.8 million) private fund to invest in Japanese office and commercial buildings, in the latest sign that the country’s property market is picking up.
Kenedix said the new fund, with a five-year management period, would use capital acquired from Korean pension funds seeking stable long-term returns……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: Doing the work yourself can save money, but it could end up being more costly than a realtor’s commission in the long run. The proliferation of services that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era.
While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commission rates many real estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go–and could end up being more costly than a realtor’s commission in the long run……………………………………….Full Article: Source