Investment management firm AllianceBernstein is moving into direct real estate and is hiring two senior experts to manage its presence in commercial property investments.

Two leading mortgage insurers are optimistic about their business as the U.S. housing market shows signs of revival.

Oak Hill Advisors, an investment management firm specializing in high yield and distressed debt, announced the closing of a new fund for distressed assets at $1.125 billion, even as the firm's president suggested the current downturn may not be as deep as anticipated.

Fund groups seeking to take part in a government program to buy distressed mortgage securities from banks are projecting returns of up to 20 percent for their investors.

The government's program to modify mortgage loans has clearly led to foreclosures being postponed in California, but they have not yet been cancelled pending trial period results, according to ForeclosureRadar's monthly report on California foreclosures.

Florida's banks, already battered by the state's sharp drop in residential housing prices, face a new wave of problems because of their disproportionately high engagement in commercial real estate.

The labor market has replaced housing as the dark cloud on the economic horizon, Freddie Mac economists said, but there are hopeful signs even as the jobless rate continues to rise.

A mortgage services firm owned by Texas private equity giant Lone Star has acquired software for high-volume loan processing that was part of a recent bankruptcy dispute in Arizona.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and other major banks are fraudulently closing down home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) just when consumers need them the most, Chicago attorney Jay Edelson is alleging on behalf of a number of clients in lawsuits that seek class action status.

Coldwell Banker in San Diego has gotten into the short sale business by merging with a local firm with a proven track record in getting the transactions done.