The Masters of the Universe have been dethroned. Now the question is just how much Wall Street's meltdown is going to hurt the city of New York and, by extension, its high-priced housing market.

It's hard to find a tale much sadder than this recent news from Los Angeles about a man who killed his wife, himself and their five beautiful children. Real estate woes loom prominently in the story.

According to the Daily Breeze, Ervin Lupoe and his wife bought their suburban Los Angeles home for $290,000 in 2003, borrowing the entire amount. They refinanced it twice during the boom, taking out a total of $630,000. Then, apparently to help pay for child care, Ervin lied about his income and forged documents, a move that cost both he and his wife what would likely have been stable jobs working at a local hospital.

Ervin, a former Marine, blamed the hospital for his actions in a suicide note faxed to a local TV station.

If you've never set foot in an architectural salvage shop, you're missing out on an amazing world of bargains for house repairs and upgrades. A cross between a home improvement center and an antique store, these cavernous warehouses sell used, or "pre-owned," house parts, from french doors and ornate mantelpieces to like-new commercial-grade appliances.

Through Acadia Strategic Opportunity Fund III L.L.C., its third discretionary investment fund, Acadia Realty Trust has purchased Cortlandt Towne Center for $78 million.

All space has been claimed at ProLogis' 5.9 million-square-foot Kaiser Commerce Center in Fontana, Calif., now that a third-party logistics provider has committed to a long-term lease for the last 484,000 square feet of space at the sprawling industrial property.

Preparing for the recovery of the commercial real estate industry, a joint venture called Cofinance-RiverOak Realty Partners formed with a goal of gathering “opportunistic real estate acquisitions” in the Northeast corridor from Boston to Washington.

Sales of newly constructed homes plunged in December to the lowest level on record, going back to 1963, according to a government report released Thursday.

In a sign that banks are stepping up their efforts to combat foreclosures, lenders intervened to help prevent 239,000 foreclosures last month, according to a report released Thursday.

Suffering from one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, Rhode Island is getting nearly $20 million from Washington to rehabilitate neighborhoods most affected by the mortgage meltdown.

CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. bought Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, the largest ski and snowboard destination in southern New England, from Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort Inc., for $27 million.