Jump in permits 'encouraging’, an article from The Gazette, reports that according to a report released by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, single-family building permits - a measure of home construction activity - totaled 180 during May in Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County, the highest one-month total since June of last year.  Fred Crowley, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs economist said, "It's encouraging.  It suggests housing may, in fact, be picking up a little bit."  Crowley speculated that mortgage rates hovering around 6% for fixed-rate, 30-year loans, aggressive builder incentives and an increasing population are a few reasons for the strong showing of permits in May.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/year_36941___article.html/permits_springs.html

Your Real Estate Website - Top Ways to Gain Trust From Visitors, an article from RISMedia.com, reports that getting consumer trust and confidence for your services in real estate is not as simple as establishing trust and confidence in a retail product.  When you meet a prospective client for the first time, that interaction becomes the basis of them extending trust and confidence in you.  When someone visits your website for the first time, it’s the primary experience they have of determining how much confidence they have in your services and how much trust they will extend to you.  In order to influence those visitors to contact you, then you must make sure that they get a sense of confidence and trust from the instant they visit the first page of your website.  Add confidence-building content to your website.  Post your personal transaction statistics, such as how many sales you did last year and how many purchases you facilitated.  Share your average sale/purchase price, what the average percent of asking price you were able to negotiate, and the average time to sale for a new listing.  Testimonials will also validate a visitor’s interest in your services.
http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-06-02/your-real-estate-website-top-ways-to-gain-trust-from-visitors/

Additional articles that you may find of interest:

Lenders foot the bill for abandoned homes
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/real_estate/high_maintenance_properties/index.htm?postversion=2008060217

Bernanke signals more rate cuts unlikely
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24947907/