Real Estate

Collecting Houses in Northern Italy

Some people collect stamps, ornaments or miniatures, but Toni Hilton collects houses in the Monferrato region of northern Italy.

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For Sale in ... Belgium

Although the market has slowed in the last two quarters of 2008, conservative lending practices in Belgium have helped to keep real estate there stable.

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San Diego Reinvents a Fading Quarry

An old sand and gravel pit will be redeveloped to include multifamily housing units, retail shops and some commercial office space.

• Commercial Renters Have a New Worry: A Landlord’s Default
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New York Tenants Could Benefit From Foreclosure

As owners of large-scale housing complexes like Riverton Houses and Stuyvesant Town struggle with heavy debt, their renters could come out ahead.

Adjectives Get Evicted

The new broker advertising vocabulary does not include “luxury,” “prestige” or, heaven forbid, “trophy.” Brand names that used to convey cachet have also fallen out of favor.

Morgan Stanley’s Chinese Land Scandal

In a S.E.C. filing, the bank said it had fired an executive in its China real estate division after uncovering evidence that he might have bribed foreign officials.

• Times Topics: Morgan Stanley

Not the Rolls, My Good Man. These Times Demand the Station Wagon.

There is a growing sense among some that not only is big spending unusual these days, it’s a little out of fashion, maybe even a little tasteless.

Apartment Buyers Abandoning 6-Figure Deposits

The real estate market in Manhattan has become so unnerving to buyers that some are forfeiting six-figure deposits rather than close on deals they have made.

Northern Zone, South-of-the-Border Flavor

Inwood offers both a Manhattan home and a connection to the outdoors with the island’s only remaining natural forest and salt marsh.

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A Wish List Fulfilled for an Apartment Hunter

B. J. Casey found everything she wanted in a 1,400-square-foot penthouse, with two terraces in Central Harlem.

• More Hunt Columns

Mortgage Insurance: Harder to Get

With losses mounting within the mortgage-insurance industry, some applicants for mortgage insurance are being turned away, while others will have to pay higher premiums.

• More Mortgage Columns

Team of Rivals

The developer of a project nearing completion in Chelsea decided he would assign individual apartments to the most experienced brokers from all the major brokerage firms.

To Dodge the Slump, She Simply Sold at the Peak

Last spring Mary Christian, a veteran buyer and seller, felt the market was “getting too ‘toppy’ ” to delay selling her condo on West 57th.

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