The housing market has been disappointing in the past year, with sales essentially flat. But there are signs that the market is starting to stir.

The nation’s biggest public home builders are telling investors that new-home sales picked up during the second half of January, reflecting rising consumer confidence, low interest rates and an improving economy.

Taylor Morrison Home Corp., a builder in five states, on Wednesday reported a 30% increase in its January sales from a year earlier, following its 24% gain in the fourth quarter. That followed fellow builder M/I Homes Inc.’s report on Tuesday that its January sales were up 8% as well as recent comments from peers PulteGroup Inc., Ryland Group Inc. and Beazer Homes USA Inc. that January sales exceeded their year-ago tallies. Read More »

A top U.S. housing regulator on Wednesday said his agency is still considering reducing the balances of some homeowners’ mortgages, though such an effort could be more limited than some left-leaning groups had hoped. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin Watt said his agency, which regulates mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is attempting to find places where Fannie and Freddie can reduce mortgage balances without hurting taxpayers. Read More »

Four years ago, a venture of Shorenstein Properties and a company controlled by Los Angeles investor Jeff Worthe paid $44 million for an empty former U.S. Postal Service distribution center in western Los Angeles , betting it could make the cavernous space into a thriving, hip hub of companies in the media and tech sector.

It worked.

The companies last week sold the property known as the Reserve—now fully leased—for about $300 million to real estate funds run by Invesco Ltd. Read More »

European financial institutions and asset management agencies greatly picked up the pace of sales of distressed assets last year, according to a new report by Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

The “staggering” volume of property, loans and other real estate assets sold was over €80.6 billion in 2014, the report said. That’s up 156% from 2013, according to the firm. Read More »

Home builders have painted a relatively optimistic picture this week of the trajectory of the new-home market going into the spring selling season, but mild concerns linger about whether those results truly mirror the broader market.

Five large, publicly traded builders have reported quarterly results so far this week, with most posting heady gains in sales contracts for their latest quarter in comparison to a year earlier. D.R. Horton Inc.’s overall sales were up 35%; MDC Holdings’ Inc. by 18%, Meritage Homes Corp.’s by 12% and Ryland Group Inc.’s by 8.3%. PulteGroup Inc. was the laggard with a 1% gain. Read More »

The overall U.S. housing market still is struggling to hit its stride, but the remodeling market meanwhile has fully regained its mojo, according to a report released Thursday by the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Kermit Baker, director of the center’s remodeling futures program, forecasts that spending in the U.S. remodeling market will grow by 4% to 5% this year to at least $330 billion, spanning work on both owned homes and rentals. That’s a slower growth rate than in previous years of the recovery, but it would be enough to make 2015 the richest year for remodeling spending of the past 15, surpassing the previous high point of $324 billion in 2007. Read More »

Big pension funds and other major U.S. institutions enjoyed strong returns from their commercial real estate holdings in 2014, although the rate has declined from earlier years in the downturn, according to new data released by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries.

The council’s NCREIF Property Index showed that real estate owned by institutions had returns of 11.82% in 2014. That’s up slightly from 2013, when returns were 11.22%, but down from 2011 when returns were 14.26%.

The index tracks the performance of over 7,000 properties valued at over $400 billion that are owned by pension funds, asset managers and other institutional investors. The return is a combination of income and the appreciation of the properties. All the returns are unleveraged, assuming the properties are purchased on an all-cash basis. Read More »

The former chief executive of Kimpton Hotels is moving full-time into the real estate business.

Mike Depatie stepped down as Kimpton’s CEO after InterContinental Hotels Group agreed last month to acquire the boutique hotel operator. He’s now overseeing a real estate investment business that focuses on lifestyle and independent hotels. Read More »

D.R. Horton Inc.’s latest quarterly results are the strongest signal yet that the U.S. home-building industry is starting to make a shift that will benefit the economy, though it has dismayed investors. Read More »

Last year was the Year of the Lifestyle Hotel, with Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental among the many players introducing new brands or making acquisitions in this hot market segment.

After less than a month, 2015 looks on pace to surpass it.

Three major hotel operators – Hyatt, Loews and Langham – are preparing to launch new boutique or lifestyle brands, joining a crowded field of hospitality companies offering properties that emphasize high-design and a social bar scene. Read More »