Construction

• Existing home sales fall 2.6 percent in June
  AP ( 24, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Sales of existing homes fell more sharply than expected in June as the housing industry continued to be bruised by the worst slump in more than two decades.
   
  
• Judge to lift ban on building Calif sports center
  AP ( 23, 2008)
  BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - A planned sports center at the University of California at Berkeley that ignited a tree-sitting protest moved a step closer to reality when a judge gave campus officials the go-ahead to build.
   
  
• Carlyle's bid for China company ends
  AP ( 23, 2008)
  BEIJING (AP) - U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group has dropped its bid to buy a stake in a Chinese construction equipment maker, the two companies said Wednesday, after multiyear talks that stirred nationalist opposition.
   
  
• Republicans start arena conversion for convention
  AP ( 22, 2008)
  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Construction crews began removing row after row of Xcel Energy Center seats. Forklift drivers slid load after load of electrical equipment off semi trucks. And the arena's manager handed over a ceremonial key to the building.
   
  
• Outside the Beltway? Out of luck winning contracts
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (AP) - Small firms that want to do business with the federal government must keep three cardinal rules in mind: Location, location, location.
   
  
• Single-family construction fell 5.3 pct. in June
  AP ( 17, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Construction of single-family homes fell in June to the slowest pace in 17 years although a change in New York laws helped give a big boost to apartment building.
   
  
• Bush calls on Congress to act on housing, energy
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Tuesday the nation's troubled financial system is "basically sound" and urged lawmakers to quickly enact legislation to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
   
  
• Paulson sees mortgage assistance as backup
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says that the administration had no immediate plans to extend emergency loans to mortgage giants Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac or to purchase the stock of the two companies.
   
  
• Fed adopts plan to curb shady mortgage practices
  AP ( 14, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Reserve has adopted rules to give home buyers more protection from the types of shady lending practices that have contributed to the housing crisis and propelled foreclosures to record highs.
   
  
• Santander bids for UK mortgage lender
  AP ( 14, 2008)
  MADRID, Spain (AP) - Spanish banking giant Banco Santander said Monday it has agreed to buy the British mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester PLC in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.
   
  
• A look at key parts of House, Senate housing bills
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  (AP) - Comparison of major elements of housing relief bills in the Senate and House. They would:
   
  
• NYC cement drivers' strike settled, union says
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - A 10-day strike by cement truck drivers who work at some of New York City's biggest construction sites has been settled.
   
  
• Foreclosure rescue to pass Senate; House next
  AP ( 11, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Struggling homeowners who can't afford their mortgages and banks facing big losses would get government help under a foreclosure rescue that has broad bipartisan support.
   
  
• Congress wrangles over bill to help homeowners
  AP ( 10, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate voted resoundingly Thursday to push closer to passage a massive mortgage rescue to help hundreds of thousands of stressed homeowners, even as the bill faced new obstacles in the House.
   
  
• US foreclosure filings surge 53 percent in June
  AP ( 10, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of homeowners stung by the rout in the U.S. housing market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with June a year ago, according to data released Thursday.
   
  
• Bovis, Redrow slashing staff by 40 pct
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - U.K. homebuilders Bovis Homes Group PLC and Redrow PLC each said Wednesday they were slashing staff by 40 percent - more signs of the distress in Britain's dismal and deteriorating housing market.
   
  
• Celebrity foreclosures show extent of housing woes
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tabloid magazines like to reassure us that celebrities are just like us - they go grocery shopping, take their dogs for a stroll around the neighborhood, even pump their own gas.
   
  
• Fed to curb shady home-lending practices
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.
   
  
• Mortgage rescue plan draws Senate support
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - A mortgage rescue plan to save hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure drew overwhelming Senate support, inching toward passage despite Republican objections.
   
  
• Pending home sales fall 4.7 percent
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - A measurement of pending home sales fell to the third-lowest reading on record in May as the housing market's recovery continued to prove elusive.
   
  
• Bush breaks ground on Walter Reed replacement
  AP ( 003, 2008)
  BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - President Bush turned a shovelful of dirt Thursday to begin construction of a military medical center that will replace the troubled Walter Reed hospital, but keep its famous name.
   
  
• Cement-truck drivers strike in New York City
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of cement-truck drivers went on strike days before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, disrupting some of the largest construction projects in the city including the World Trade Center site.
   
  
• Westfield OKs London retail development
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's Westfield Group Ltd. said Wednesday it has reached agreements with British government and Olympic agencies to start building a 1.5 billion pound ($3 billion) shopping mall in east London.
   
  
• British construction activity falls
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - Construction activity in Britain declined in June at the fastest rate in 11 years, a supply institute said Wednesday, and a major home builder said it had been unable to raise more capital - both signs of worsening conditions in the battered housing industry.
   
  
• Manhattan apartment sales drop, but prices climb
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Apartment prices in Manhattan posted double-digit gains even as tight credit conditions and continued unrest on Wall Street slowed sales for the second straight quarter, according to two reports released Wednesday.
   
  
• WTC transit hub design changes after agency report
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - The World Trade Center's owner announced a major design change to its multibillion-dollar transit hub Tuesday, a day after concluding that most projects at ground zero are behind schedule and over budget.
   
  
• Group sues over crop subsidies on US forest land
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) - Environmentalists are suing the U.S. Forest Service over what they say is an illegal dole: The agency's long-standing practice of subsidizing corn and soybean farming on a nature preserve in western Kentucky and Tennessee.
   
  
• Construction spending drops 0.4 percent in May
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - Construction spending fell in May for the 11th time in the past year as a continuing slump in housing offset strength in nonresidential building.
   
  
• KB Home 2Q loss widens on sales slump, charges
  AP ( 27, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - KB Home, one of the nation's largest home builders, reported a larger second-quarter loss Friday, as weak sales and falling home prices led to a 55 percent drop in revenue. The company also booked charges to lower the value of unsold homes, joint venture deals and land option contracts.