Real estate

At least 40 states’ attorneys general across the country will launch an investigation into the mortgage servicing industry today, which will possibly result in a push for a national moratorium on foreclosures.

Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, says that things are still going to get worse before they improve, and Phelisha Harris, a realtor, sees signs of the damaged housing market everyday in her neighborhood.

In Hong Kong, there’s an art to living in small spaces. A hint – it involves hide-away bathtubs, hydraulic storage beds, movable walls, and tiny appliances. It’s also about getting along.

Forty million people live in and near Indonesia’s carbon-rich forests and peatlands, and while their lives are tied to the land, they often have little say in what happens to it. In Teluk Kabung, Riau province, decisions made in the capital Jakarta have helped wipe out the natural forest surrounding the village, destroying its coconut-based economy, and pushing the endangered Sumatran tiger closer to people.

For the wealthiest global citizens, the investment of choice is increasingly becoming real estate in the most desirable areas of the world’s largest cities. In London, for example, home prices are skyrocketing, and it’s pushing many of the middle class to a point where home ownership is unthinkable.