January continued to show positive growth signs with pending sales jumping compared to last January. Values per square foot also moved up in most price categories, with even the upper end showing positive movement. The Months Supply of Inventory dropped quite a bit even with a slight increase in new listings as pending sales rose [...]

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press General Motors made a record $7.6 billion in 2011, driven by a $7.2-billion profit in North America that ensures its highest profit-sharing payments of $7,000 each to its UAW workers. Overall, GM’s 2011 profit rose from last year’s $4.7 billion and broke the previous record annual profit of $6.7 [...]

By John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press House sales and median sale prices in southeast Michigan rose in January compared to a year ago, further signaling that the regional economy might be climbing out of its deep recessionary hole. Realcomp II Ltc., a Farmington Hills-based real estate service, reported today that home sales in the metro [...]

By Greta Guest, Detroit Free Press Metro Detroit’s housing market made the list of improving markets for the first time in February, a national home builders group said Monday. The National Association of Home Builders also included Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon and Monroe on the list, which is based on single-family housing permit [...]

By WXYZ Channel 7 Most people realize their credit report will dictate whether they get a loan  for anything from a car to a house, and if so, what kind of interest rate  they’ll pay on that loan. But now, a new kind of credit report, called  CoreScore, contains information that digs deeper than ever [...]

Wall Street Journal, by Nancy Keates As a top contractor in Silicon Valley, Dick Breaux is in a rare position: Amid a national housing slump, he continues to build big and elaborate houses. Projects have included a renovation of a 65,000-square-foot mansion and a 22,300-square-foot redo that required a crew of artisans from England, and [...]

WXYZ Channel 7 www.BirminghamRestaurantWeek.org Birmingham’s favorite dining event is back this year for two weeks. Affordable, gourmet meals will be offered at the seventh annual Birmingham Restaurant Week event from January 30 – February 3 and February 6 – 10, 2012. Participating Birmingham restaurants will offer three-course lunches for $15 and three-course dinners for $30. [...]

By Bill Loomis, The Detroit News From nickel meals to elaborate dinners, Detroit’s restaurants and saloons were the hangouts of their day. Before the famous Delmonico’s restaurant opened in New York City in 1845, there were no restaurants in the United States as we know them today. There were, however, “eating houses.” Detroit had its [...]

By Emily Glazer, Wall Street Journal A new way to help boost your credit history and score: Factor in your rent. Last December, credit-reporting company Experian started including rent-payment history in its credit reports, says Brannan Johnston, vice president and managing director of Experian RentBureau, which collects updated rental histories from property-management companies. Property managers [...]

ARE YOU READY TO FACE “THAT GUY” THIS FLU SEASON? National Foundation for Infectious Diseases launches Are You That Guy? campaign to urge Americans to limit contact with others when flu symptoms strike BETHESDA, MD, January 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Have you ever ventured out of the house, gone to a business meeting or traveled [...]