white picket fence anyone?

Hard to see another floor to real estate. Now that the banks are settling on toxic portfolios, we should see new life to owning a piece of the rock.


More Americans than forecast signed contracts in May to buy previously owned homes, signaling the residential real estate market may be rebounding from a slump earlier in the year. 

The index of pending home resales increased 8.2 percent from April after a revised 11 percent drop the prior month that was smaller than initially reported, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said today in Washington. Economists forecast a 3 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. 

The NAR said the May increase was the biggest monthly gain since November. 

All four regions showed an increase in contract signings from a month earlier, led by a 13 percent gain in the western U.S. 

Lennar Corp. (LEN) Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said last week he sees the first signs of “repair” in the market. The third-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue reported second- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates on higher house prices and earnings at its distressed-investing unit. 


Investment ideas: LEN, BZH, NVR