Bloomberg Home prices rose in 81 percent of U.S. metropolitan areas in the fourth quarter, with the pace of gains accelerating even as sales slowed from earlier in the year, the National Association of Realtors said. The median price of an existing single-family home increased from a year earlier in 145 of the 179 markets measured, the group said in ...

Manhattan / Bloomberg Dubai’s Damac Properties reported a 12 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, according to a company statement on the Dubai stock exchange (DFM). The developer reported a net profit of AED844m ($229.8m) for the three months to 31 December, according to calculations by Reuters, which calculated was the absence of a quarterly breakdown. This ...

Berlin / AFP German retail giant Metro said on Thursday that profits rose strongly in the first quarter, helped by strong Christmas business and gains from divestments. Metro, which runs its business year from October to September, said in a statement that bottom-line net profit rose by 36 percent to 549 million euros ($620 million) in the three months to ...