BUILDER Online's Housing Headlines

DESPITE a dearth of buyers and a glut of renters these days, an effort to make a rental community of 284 previously approved two-bedroom condominiums in a new Central Islip development has hit several major speed bumps.

Home prices and mortgage rates have fallen so far that the monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable than at any point in the past 15 years and is less expensive than renting in a growing number of cities.

Turns out Connecticut’s “House of the Year” is small, inexpensive to heat, and priced at a surprisingly low $220,000.

The housing market faces several more years with 800,000 to 1 million new foreclosed properties per year, according to Rick Sharga, an executive vice president with Carrington Mortgage Services.

What’s become of all those properties seized by banks? CoreLogic delved into the stats to find out. The company’s analysts took a closer look at the post-foreclosure outcomes of properties since 2006.

The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.

Home prices are expected to drop 2.5% this year and rise just 1.1% annually through 2015, according to a recent survey of more than 100 economists.

Portland is nationally recognized as a leader in the movement to create bicycle-friendly cities. About 7 percent of commuters here travel by bike.

The Labor Department is investigating pay practices at many of the top companies in home building, hitting them with a broad demand for records that has led to complaints of regulatory overreach.

Help may finally be on the way for borrowers stuck in high-interest-rate mortgages. Shaila Dewan and Louise Story reported in The Times that the White House is considering a proposal that would ease refinancings for millions of underwater homeowners whose loans are owned or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage companies.

Home building companies don’t appear at risk of failing to meet their short-term financial obligations, a Citi Investment Research analyst said on Wednesday.

Long common in resort and second-home communities, the practice of selling houses with all the furnishings is turning up more frequently in the high-end market of Fairfield County.

Despite all the gloom, there are growing indications that it is a good time to buy.

How low can the market go? For real estate, some economists say, an end to the seemingly endless decline in housing values might be in sight.

Two investors from China bought a formerly city-owned tract and said they intended to build a new multipurpose riverfront district.