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  Views of Life After Fannie, Freddie

  The Obama administration outlined its plans to begin shrinking the government's broad support of the nation's crippled mortgage market, a process that officials said could take several years and would include phasing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

  • Video: Consensus on Fannie, Freddie
  • Heard: Obama Can't Fix Housing Without a War
  • White House report
  • Mixed Outlook for Mortgage Insurers
• 

  A Penthouse Pushes Price Limits

  House of the Day: A penthouse in Tai Hang, Hong Kong, is testing sales limits with a $24.3 million price tag -- five times the average per-square-foot cost in the area.

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  Taking Chalet Chic to the City

  Gone are the kitsch cut-out hearts in Tyrolean three-legged chairs and the red-checked curtains: Chalet chic today is about creating a modern space that is not only comfortable but also unfussy, eco-friendly and tactile.

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  Related's Ross Is Upbeat on West Side

  Pessimistic? Not Stephen Ross. Related's chairman predicted that he would lure major new office tenants to the yet-to-be-developed West Side rail yards later this year.

• 

  Home Affordability Hits Pre-Bubble Levels

  The ratio of median home prices to annual household incomes has returned to pre-bubble levels in a growing number of U.S. markets over the past year.

  • Chart: Region-Specific Housing Data
  • White House Plans End of Fannie, Freddie
  • Vote: Is it a good time to invest in real estate?
  • Mixed Outlook for Mortgage Insurers

• White House Plans to Revamp Mortgage Market

  The Obama administration will propose a path to wind down and eventually eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and specify a range of options to replace the mortgage companies.

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  A Luxury Villa on the Ganges

  Building beautiful homes has been part of property developer Aditya Lakhanpal's life for some time. But a home on the Ganges River was something he always dreamed about. A few years ago, Mr. Lakhanpal got his chance.

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  Cash Buyers Lift Housing Market

  Buyers in markets around the U.S. are snapping up homes in all-cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation's most battered housing markets.

  • Video: Buyers Pay Cash, Sensing a Bottom
  • Vote: Is it a good time to invest in real estate?

• Survey: Mortgage Process Has Become Too Confusing

  A survey shows that confusion over applying for a mortgage has become one of the most challenging aspects of buying a home.

• 

  The Pampered Countertop

  Can household cleansers be sold like beauty products? Ask Mrs. Meyer.

• REIT Group Calls Calpers' Proposed Strategy 'Ill-Advised'

  Calpers’ proposal to eliminate real-estate stocks from its property portfolio is being criticized by an industry group.

• Freddie's Operating Chief Resigns

  Freddie Mac said Bruce Witherell left for "personal reasons" and that his departure was effective immediately.

• Boom's Home-Ownership Gains Lost

  The meltdown of the U.S. mortgage market and rising foreclosure rate have wiped out more homeowners than were created in the 2000-07 housing boom, the latest indication of the severity of the housing bust.

• 

  After Snow, the Ice Dam Cometh

  Heavy snow accumulation and long cold snaps across the U.S. have left people unusually vulnerable to the dangers of ice and snow buildup.

  • Audio: Homeowners Beware Ice on Roofs

• Price Premiums Grow for New Homes

  A reader asks why resale home prices are falling, while prices at new developments are on the rise

• Builder Uses Different Blueprint

• Heavy Metal Meets Toy Bunnies

• Malcolm Forbes's N.Y. Townhouse Hits the Market

• Subscriber Content Read Preview

  Pre-Revolutionary War Era Homes

• The Case for Sunbelt Real Estate

• Homes in Gated Communities

• Going Modern in Old New York

• Estate of Oil Mogul's Family is Listed for $28.5 Million

• Gehry Leaves Risks to the Kids

• An Award-Winning Home

• Churches Find the End Is Nigh

• Rent Check: The $38,000-a-Month Home

• Fannie-Freddie Report Likely to Be Late

• Oxfordshire Farmhouse

• Family Space

• Rem Koolhaas Can't Put Down His Pen

• Design Decor: Horse Hair, Stingray and Crystals

• 60 Seconds With: Adriaan Geuze

House of the Day

• 

  Providence Penthouse

  The top-floor unit of this three-story building in Rhode Island, once a single-family home, features wood-burning fireplaces, two bedrooms and city views.

  • Visit the House of the Day homepage.

• New York: Suburban Mid-Century Modern

  This 1960s home in Irvington, N.Y., is surrounded by large boulders and features five bedrooms and a two-story library for the owners' collection of hard-bound books.

• 

  Europe: Jugendstil Home

  This 100 year-old residence in Starnberg, Germany, was designed in the Jugendstil style popular in the country around the turn of the 20th century.

• 

  A Penthouse Pushes Price Limits

  House of the Day: A penthouse in Tai Hang, Hong Kong, is testing sales limits with a $24.3 million price tag -- five times the average per-square-foot cost in the area.