U.S. single-family home prices rose in May from April, the first monthly increase in nearly three years, suggesting prices may be stabilizing, according to Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes on Tuesday.

If there’s one indicator that investors are likely to embrace as their yardstick for the housing market predicament it is the Case-Shiller home price index. This is the index that turned lower in 2006, presaging the eruption of the credit crisis. Its apparent stabilization hence marks a turn in the housing dilemma, says bond expert Tony Crescenzi.

The good news is that sales volumes of new construction are rising; the bad news is they're doing so despite growing trouble with appraisals. I can't seem to talk to anyone in the real estate industry on any topic without hearing something about appraisals.

Mine is a story of government intervention gone wrong, of well-meaning intentions unfulfilled.

The commercial real estate beast has begun to expose its claws in earnings, posing the single greatest threat to the banking industry's recovery through the rest of the year.

In many beaten-down real estate markets, what was once a bane is now a boon, but there's considerable debate about whether it signals the coming of an overall housing recovery.

There's a lot of misery out there as more and more people lose their homes, but that's no reason not to buy a foreclosed property. Here's a need-to-know guide.