As Congress looks at ways to avoid a “fiscal cliff,” those in the housing industry, including REALTORS®, are urging them to protect the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). “[Getting rid of it] would throw the housing sector into turmoil … and chill the market just as it is trying to recover,” Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, told CNN. Read the full story, “Fiscal battle over mortgage deduction,” at CNNMoney.

In other news:

Five Reasons Home Prices Have Been Rising – Wall Street Journal

Commercial loan delinquency hits three-year low – Crain’s Chicago Business