The U.S. commercial real estate market, slammed by the credit squeeze and recession, is likely to hit bottom in 2010, according to a survey of industry investors, developers, lenders and consultants.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in four weeks, reflecting a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates on 30-year loans dropped below 5 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Commercial real estate faces a crisis in the coming months that—though not as serious as the residential market collapse—will cause significant problems, investor Wilbur Ross told CNBC.

The prices of investment-grade commercial real estate rose more than 4 percent in the third quarter, possibly signaling an end to the sector's year-long downward spiral, according to an leading property index released Tuesday.

U.S. banks are at risk of sizable new loan losses, particularly on commercial property, and some banks may not have sufficient capital to fully cushion against losses, a Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up just slightly, averaging 5.03 percent for the week ending October 29, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 5.00 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

Sales of newly built homes unexpectedly tumbled 3.6 percent in September, but the inventory of new homes available at the end of the month shrank to the smallest in 27 years.

U.S. home loan demand slid for the third straight week, with purchase applications the weakest since mid-May and refinancing requests at a two-month low.

High foreclosure rates are now moving into metro areas that had avoided the problem before, according to a new report from RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.

Community bankers are responding coolly to the Obama administration's plan to free up small business lending, saying the programs unveiled last week involve unattractive government capital injections and mountains of paperwork.

A photographer and an architect plan to freeze one Detroit's thousands of abandoned homes this winter, encasing it in ice to draw attention to foreclosures that have battered the region.

Freddie Mac said on Friday its mortgage investment portfolio grew by an annualized 7.3 percent rate in September, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

With homebuyers rushing to complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires, a report Friday is expected to show strong September sales.

Thousands of individuals claiming the first-time homebuyer's $8,000 tax credit may have been attempting to scam the system, including purported 4-year-olds and illegal immigrants.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5 percent for the week ending October 22, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.92 percent, according to Freddie Mac.