Today's Headlines

U.S. mortgage applications nudged up last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. If demand for purchase loans, a tentative early indicator of home sales, continues to climb it will bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which remains highly vulnerable to setbacks and hea

By JAMES R. HAGERTY Just in time for the spring house-hunting season, smart-phone applications that provide information to home buyers are proliferating. Real-estate firms have long vied to have the most engaging Web site to attract people searching for homes. Now they also feel compelled to have an "app" for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other smart phones. Rather than being moneymakers—brokers tend

At a marathon meeting that went into the early morning Tuesday, the Oak Park Village Board unanimously endorsed a controversial plan that calls for building a 20-story glass tower at a busy downtown corner. The proposal, which has been discussed for three years and has the plan commission's recommendation, will include a 140-room hotel, 85 condominiums, two stories of retail space and a 510-