By Mary Ellen Podmolik, Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Buying a condominium is getting trickier for anyone who wants to put down only 3.5 percent and have the government insure their mortgage.

The issue isn't just the borrower's financial wherewithal. It's the building's, and plenty of condos no longer get a thumbs-up from the Federal Housing Administration.

By Nancy Cheney, Seattle Times

As the number of town houses in Seattle-area neighborhoods has mushroomed in recent years, one particular design feature has caught the eye of many a homebuyer and neighbor; the "auto-court" parking area around which some town houses are clustered.

With a central, cavelike driveway, often shaded by the town houses' upper floors extending overhead, auto courts typically consist of two rows of Smart Car-sized garages.

by JUSTIN T. HILLEY, Housing Wire 

Sales of existing homes rose for the third straight month, increasing 5% in December, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The trade group said the sale of single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.61 million in December from a downwardly revised 4.39 million in November.

by Jennifer Sokolowsky, Puget Sound Business Journal

Home prices in Seattle fell again in October, the third straight month of declines, according to the S&P/Case-Schiller Home Price Indices. And those falling home prices and low interest rates may be luring more young, first-time homebuyers to buy rather than rent, leading to possible overbuilding in Seattle’s hot apartment-construction sector.

Seattle home prices fell 1 percent from September to October, slightly less than the 1.1 percent drop from August to September. The latest decreases are in line with S&P’s nationwide 20-City Composites, which fell by 1.2 percent. Nineteen of the 20 cities in the index saw home prices fall in October, with Phoenix the only city to show growth, at .3 percent.

By Diana Olick, CNBC

Not since the spring of 2008 have the nation’s homebuilders felt this good about the potential for new business. An industry association survey measuring builder sentiment rose for the third straight month in December, with significant gains in the component measuring traffic of perspective buyers.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged up two points from a downwardly revised number to 21.

by Bethany Overland, Puget Sound Business Journal

Standing on the sidewalk in front of Eric Thomas’ modern, two-story home in Seattle, a visitor can see something unusual about its roof: 70 percent of it is covered in solar panels.

Those panels are capable of producing up to six kilowatt hours of energy.

By MARC STILES, Daily Journal of Commerce

Here's something you'd think would give pause to the people who develop and own apartments: It costs a lot less to own in King County than it does to rent.

But that doesn't seem to be slowing down new projects, at least not yet.

By Marc Stiles, Daily Journal of Commerce

Sound Transit and the city of Seattle are likely to accelerate a study on building a high-capacity transit system, such as a rapid streetcar, between downtown and Ballard.

Yesterday, the Sound Transit Executive Committee voted to recommend that the full board appropriate $2 million to start the study next year, three years sooner than originally planned.

By Puget Sound Business Journal

Toll Brothers Inc., a builder of luxury homes that operates in 20 states, has bought Kirkland-based CamWest Development    for an undisclosed cash amount.

It’s the first acquisition for Horsham, Pa.-based Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) since 2005, but the deal is not a signal for a broader expansion push by the company, the Associated Press reported.

by KERRY CURRY, Housing Wire

Gradual improvement in the housing market is expected next year, with existing-home sales edging up 4% to 5% and new home sales getting an even bigger boost off this year's record lows, the chief economist of the nation's largest real estate group said Friday.

"Tight mortgage credit conditions have been holding back homebuyers all year, and consumer confidence has been shaky recently," Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said. "Nonetheless, there is a sizeable pent-up demand based on population growth, employment levels and a doubling-up phenomenon that can’t continue indefinitely."