JERUSALEM — A Jerusalem court ruled has ruled against plans to build a luxury housing development on the remains of a Palestinian village abandoned in the 1948 war that followed the establishment of Israel. Read full article > >

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Israeli court grants reprieve to abandoned Palestinian village

Many people are wondering about President Obama’s refinance plan , announced Wednesday, and a new program that would try to make thousands of vacant homes available for rent. Read full article > >

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What Obama’s housing plan means for you

The police officer was wounded while pursuing a man at a city housing project, the authorities said.

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Police Officer Is Shot in the Face At a Brooklyn Housing Project

The deal was forged in 2008 when a fledgling nonprofit group with political connections promised to turn distressed apartment complexes into badly needed homes for troubled young men. Peaceoholics had never bought or repaired a building. It had never operated affordable housing. It had no construction money from private lenders and less than $27,000 cash on hand. Read full article > >

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D.C. housing deal shows much spent but less accomplished

A new federal task force looking into fraud related to the housing crisis will begin by looking at big banks and investment firms on Wall Street.

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New Housing Task Force Takes Aim at Wall St.

Penn South, a housing development in Chelsea, and the ill-fated Pruitt-Igoe project in St. Louis shared a type of housing stock but little else.

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Critic’s Notebook: Penn South and Pruitt-Igoe, Starkly Different Housing Tales

There is plenty of blame to go around for the U.S. housing bubble, but not much of it belongs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two giant housing-finance institutions made many mistakes over the decades, some of them real whoppers, but causing house prices to soar and then crater during the past decade weren’t among them. Read full article > >

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Fannie and Freddie don’t deserve blame for bubble

With the next Republican primary in a state hard hit by the collapse of the housing bubble, free-market instincts collide with voters’ desperation.

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In Florida, Facing the Political Implications of Housing Crisis

As the GOP presidential primary race hurtles to Florida, the candidates will be confronted with a question central to the health of the state’s still weak economy: What are their plans for solving the housing mess? Read full article > >

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Florida primary forces GOP candidates to face the dreaded housing question

Confidence among the nation’s single-family home builders rose in January for the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Wednesday. Read full article > >

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Home builders’ confidence grows in January

Julie Schmit reports that the housing market is at, or very near, its bottom. After falling by 9 percent last year, single-family housing starts are expected to jump by 37 percent in 2012. Prices could still fall a bit, but by 2013, we should be in a real housing recovery. Read full article > >

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Who will get the ‘Recovery Presidency’?

Julie Schmit reports that the housing market is at, or very near, its bottom. After falling by 9 percent last year, single-family housing starts are expected to jump by 37 percent in 2012. Prices could still fall a bit, but by 2013, we should be in a real housing recovery. Read full article > >

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Who will get the ‘Recovery Presidency’?

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was indicted Thursday on new corruption charges for allegedly seeking bribes in a wide-ranging real estate scandal that dwarfs the other cases in which he’s accused. According to the indictment, millions of dollars illegally changed hands to promote a series of real estate projects, including a controversial housing development in Jerusalem that required a radical change in zoning laws and earned the developers tax breaks and other benefits. Read full article > >

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Ex-Israeli leader Olmert indicted on new corruption charges in Jerusalem real estate scandal

Matthew Branch and his wife Rachel Sayre decided to finally put down roots in Washington. After several months of searching for a house, the couple just made an offer on a detached home in the Northwest neighborhood of Takoma. Branch, 32, doesn’t seem particularly anxious about diving headfirst into the area’s housing market. “I think it’ll probably appreciate, but it’s anybody’s game,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see what happens.” Read full article > >

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Buying or selling a home in 2012? Here’s what you need to know.

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in November rose to the highest level in a year and a half. Normally, such a gain would suggest a turnaround for the depressed housing market. But a growing number of buyers are canceling their contracts at the last minute, making it a less reliable gauge. Read full article > >

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Contract signings for US homes up 7 percent in November, highest since April 2010