A bright spot in housing’s bad market: Renta...

At a time when virtually all things real estate have been distressed, there’s one corner of the sector that has been fruitful for investors. Many factors working against the residential housing market have actually helped returns on real estate investment trusts. REITs — which invest in commercial properties from office buildings to shopping malls, as well as rental apartments — have outperformed the...

Existing Home Sales Inch Up...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Sales of existing homes recorded modest gains in January, the third straight month of month-over-month increases. According to the National Association of Realtors, homes sold at an annual rate of 5.36 million in January, up 2.7% from December and 5.3% higher than January 2010 sales. At the same time, the median home price fell 3% to $158,000, compared to a year earlier. It was the first time in...