Big Builder

K. Hovnanian Homes plans townhomes for Baltimore area tract

Baltimore Business Journal staffer Jack Lambert reports that St. John Properties Inc. sold 11 acres of the former North Point Drive-In movie theater lot in Dundalk to K. Hovnanian Homes for $2 million, seemingly ending the company's plans for big-box stores at the site. Read More

• Management

The U.S.' fastest-growing cities since the recession

New Geography's Joel Kotkin teams up with demographer Wendell Cox to rank the cities that have been the most resilient in population and economic growth since Recession hit in 2007. Read More

• Business

Toll Brothers pays $3.7M for Carefree land, luxury homes planned

Phoenix Business Journal staffer Kristena Hansen reports that, after a two-year hiatus, Toll Brothers Inc. is back in Arizona's land-buying game. Toll paid $3.7 million for more than 15 acres in a Carefree community that has laid dormant since falling into foreclosure amid the housing bust. Read More

• Management

The U.S. cities with the best parks

Fast Company's Zak Stone explores the U.S. metro-scape for where you'd go if you want to live somewhere with plentiful, accessible, well-maintained parks. According to land-conservation nonprofit The Trust for Public Land: Minneapolis and New York, in that order, followed by San Francisco... Read More

• Local Markets

America's 10 cheapest cities to live in

Looking for the cheapest places to live in the U.S.? Kiplinger's Michael DeSenne analyzes the Council for Community and Economic Research's calculations of living expenses in 307 urban areas, and ranks the Top 10. Read More

• Local Markets

All focus on Phoenix: 7 fundamental improving trends

The latest housing data out of Phoenix shows that the market is normalizing: inventories have stopped falling and home sales are rising even as the share of properties sold to investors is declining. The Wall Street Journal's Nick Timiraos taps local market expert Mike Orr to delve beneath the... Read More

• Local Markets

Dramatically less distress leads to normalizing conditions

Calculated Risk's Bill McBride teams up with housing analyst Tom Lawler to look at the telltale patterns that underlie a recovery in housing fundamentals. Evident in the transaction numbers is that fewer properties are trading as a result of failed loans or troubled borrowers, and more are going to... Read More

• Finance

The rate of change is the rate that matters

Rising mortgage rates are pushing up the cost of buying a home just as more local markets are seeing prices and sales climb, but economists say that the increase is unlikely to derail the U.S. housing recovery. The Wall Street Journal's Nick Timiraos and Conor Dougherty report. The WSJ is a... Read More

• Finance

Will stagnant incomes suppress home prices?

Wall Street Journal staffer Kathleen Madigan reports that the extra cost of higher rates on home prices wouldn't darken the housing outlook except it is running up against puny growth in household incomes. The WSJ is a paid-subscription site. Read More

• Finance

Home builder outlook is not without headwinds

A limited supply of new and existing homes for sale have caused a jump in home builders' average selling prices, but housing supply constraints and rising interest rates, coupled with weak macroeconomics may spell trouble ahead. HousingWire's Christina Mlynski reports. Read More

• Business

America's most-expensive homes for sale

Forbes' Morgan Brennan takes audiences on a house tour of mind-blowing, palatial wonderment, the most-expensive homes for sale in America. Read More

• Business

Lennar will take its act to Nashville

South Florida Business Journal staffer Oscar Pedro Musibay reports that Lennar Corporation has expanded into the Nashville market, picking up a 40-site tract to get started and tapping vet Andy Pfeifer to lead the unit. Read More

• Management

All the facts about immigrants

Congressional proposals to overhaul America's immigration system include changes to temporary foreign worker programs. Brookings fellow Jill Wilson presents data on the numbers, occupations and geographical distribution of temporary workers, plus a look at proposed policy changes to balance the... Read More

• Housing Policy

Fed's Ben: big shoes to fill

The president praised Ben S. Bernanke's leadership of the Federal Reserve but suggested that he could nominate a new Fed chairman later this year. New York Times staffer Binyamin Appelbaum reports. Read More

• Housing Policy

CBO: Senate immigration bill would cut deficits by $200 billion by 2023

Washington Post staffer Lori Montgomery reports that nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the "Gang of Eight" Senate immigration reform bill would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over 10 years. Read More

• Housing Policy

30-year fixed rate drops, per Zillow

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.88%, down from 3.93% at this same time last week. Read More

• Business

Bair: Fed must re-do bank stress tests; focus on over-leverage

• Business

Boom cycle: counting all bicyclists

Fast Company's Zak Stone reports on new ways to tally traffic volume ... of bicyclists. Read More

• Construction Trends

Build a home with a 3D printer

Movoto's Randy Nelson has figured out how much time-and money-it would take to print a house the same size as yours. Spoiler: It's a lot. Read More

• Construction Trends

Students are piling on debt fast

MarketWatch's Robert Schroeder reports that student loan debt has nearly doubled in the past five years, according to a congressional report released Tuesday, less than two weeks before interest rates on federally backed student loans are set to jump to 6.8% from 3.4%. Read More

• Construction Trends