A Freddie Mac survey out today shows the average fixed rate for a traditional 30-year home loan was back below 5% this week. It was the second industry survey in two days to show the rate below the threshold, which has become a psychological trigger...

  A Hollywood Hills home once owned by Oscar-nominated film star and singer Dorothy Dandridge ("Carmen Jones," "Porgy and Bess") is on the market at $3,495,000. The restored 1926...

Construction employment dropped this year in more than 96% of the country’s metropolitan areas, according to research released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Of the 337 metropolitan areas, construction-related jobs plunged...

The average cost of getting a mortgage dropped about 12% nationwide over the last 12 months, according to a new study by Bankrate Inc.

The Top 10 national list of most-searched-for homes last week at Realtor.com among those within 20% of the median list price of $219,300 included nine California homes. Some of the Southern...

  The Malibu septic-tank-versus-sewers issue has finally been settled after years of debate, according to "Septic tanks on their way out in Malibu" at latimes.com. The timeline: New septic systems will not be permitted in Malibu, and owners of...

Here's something a little different on the home-building front: We took photos of a prefab home being put together this morning in Newport Beach. We're not talking double-wide prefab, but rather a sustainably designed modular home by LivingHomes, a...

Public open houses being held at Westside properties priced as high as $21.9 million is the subject of my story today at latimes.com. Most of us can never afford a house costing more than a fraction of that price. If you are a diehard lookie-loo, at...

The online brokerage Redfin announced a cool new tool for those interested in SoCal real estate prices. The Seattle-based online brokerage is now posting closed-sale prices and photographs for houses in a variety of big real estate markets as soon as...

Mortgage titan Fannie Mae said it will begin allowing homeowners facing foreclosure to rent back their homes for up to one year in a move aimed at keeping a stack of foreclosures on its books from hitting the market, which is just beginning to show...