PropertyPrices

Sales of previously owned homes hit a six-month low in May, and overpriced inventory is a key factor. Though we all watched the real estate market crater, most sellers are still overpricing their homes, and the worst price optimists are the ones who bought after the housing bubble burst.

Some recent reports on the real estate market show home prices starting to stabilize in many areas. Other data suggests the housing market has further to fall. But whichever direction the numbers are heading, there are few tenets that smart buyers and sellers should always follow.

Home sales have started to rebound, with half the nation's markets experiencing price gains in the last quarter of 2010. They weren't great gains, but they were progress. Here's what the latest moves mean for buyers, for sellers and for the U.S. economy.

Despite new federal laws designed to protect them, many tenants are caught up in foreclosure dramas as building owners struggle to keep their properties. If the real estate market doesn't improve soon, the problem could get even worse.

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) announced a steep increase in first-half losses on provisions for past-due property loans. The net loss in the first half of the year was 1.73 billion euros, compared with a loss of 786 million euros in the first half of 2009, The Wall Street Journal said. Operating...

Once again, the Big Apple may be ahead of the trend. Manhattan real estate mogul Elie Hirschfeld expects the New York real estate market to recover before other areas of the country as overbuilt office space is absorbed and properties are snapped up in distress and foreclosure sales.