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.

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.

The latest reading on national factory activity from the Institute for Supply Management suggests U.S. gross domestic product is growing at an annualized rate of 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

The dollar and yen fell Monday as improving economic data worldwide and rising stock prices eroded the greenback's safe-haven appeal.

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.

Nippon Steel, the world's No.2 steelmaker, booked a third consecutive quarterly loss, hit in part by blast furnace trouble, but raised its full-year outlook to above market expectations.

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.

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.

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's biggest developer, posted a 33 percent drop in its third quarter net profit recovering from a loss in the previous quarter, boosted by recovering Asian property markets.

Home resales rose far more than expected last month to the highest level in more than two years as buyers scrambled to complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires.

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.