Housing

The housing crisis may be coming to an end, according to some nationwide indexes. And though prices are likely to continue to fall for about a year, some homebuilders are un-pausing their projects and moving forward.

August 11, 2009 - Time

Walkability improves home values, according to a new report. Smart City talks with economist Joe Cortright about the study, and with IBM about its new "Smarter Cities" technology report.

August 9, 2009 - Smart City

Willingness to default on home loans has been found to increase in ZIP codes with high foreclosure rates, leaving foreclosure-heavy Las Vegas in danger.

August 8, 2009 - The Las Vegas Sun

Housing vacancies are still rising in many American metropolitan areas.

August 4, 2009 - Forbes

With a 32-story tower occupied only part-time by a single family, America's real estate bust may be most apparent in Fort Meyers.

August 3, 2009 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Builder Fernando Pagés Ruiz discovered by accident that the multicultural groups in his community had special needs that weren't being met.

August 3, 2009 - Fernando Pagés Ruiz

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration are looking to increase energy efficiency incentives for homeowners, including opportunities for larger home loans.

July 28, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

The supply of housing in Las Vegas is at a three-year low, a fact many attribute to prospectors buying up low-priced foreclosures in recent months.

July 27, 2009 - The Las Vegas Sun

This piece from Forbes looks at which cities will recover fastest from the recession -- and which ones won't.

July 26, 2009 - Forbes

Google Maps now feature visual displays of homes and properties that are listed for sale.

July 25, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

Shelley Poticha, President and CEO of Reconnecting America and past executive director of the Congress for New Urbanism, has been appointed Senior Advisor for Sustainable Housing and Communities at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

July 24, 2009 - Reconnecting America

These two posts from Richard Florida look at how housing is faring during the economic recession. He looks at home prices in 300 metro areas, and how things have changed between the peak in 2006 to today.

July 24, 2009 - Creative Class Exchange

As the U.K. experiments with building environmentally-friendly "eco-towns", Peter Hetherington of The Guardian argues that they should also be greening up Britain's vast suburbs.

July 23, 2009 - The Guardian U.K.

New studies rank cities based on the extent to which they "criminalize homelessness."

July 20, 2009 - NPR

In a posh borough of London, empty homes are causing problems for officials, who are tasked with finding the owners of these vacant or abandoned mansions.

July 17, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal

The UK government recently announced the sites of four new planned "eco-towns". But local opposition to the projects remains high.

July 16, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

A new report on how cities criminalize the practices used by homeless people to get by on a daily basis names Los Angeles as the country's "meanest city" for its "Safer City Initiative."

July 16, 2009 - CommonDreams

Sales in Brooklyn are down, and that's made a ghost town out of the recently booming but now busted Williamsburg neighborhood.

July 15, 2009 - New York Magazine

The city of Vancouver is going to begin requiring that a certain amount of electric car charging stations be included in all new residential developments.

July 14, 2009 - CBC

The City of New York has unveiled its Housing Asset Renewal Program, a plan to revive stalled projects as affordable housing.

July 14, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper