Real estate, or immovable property, is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate.

The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property. Property law, the area of the common law that governs real property, differs from contract law in that it focuses primarily on rights that one person holds over all other people, as opposed to specific individuals.

Background

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In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgages -- bank loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because if the borrower does not make payments the lender can foreclose, that is, file a court action that lets them take the property and sell it to get their money back. However, in many developing countries, there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry as such either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

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BBC News | Africa | World Edition

Angolan MPLA set for big poll win
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:54:04 -0000
Angola's ruling MPLA party is heading for a landslide win in parliamentary polls, preliminary results show.
Sudan army 'attacks Darfur towns'
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:19:18 -0000
Sudanese troops launch air and ground attacks on two Darfur towns, several rebel group say.
Rice in Rabat 'for terror talks'
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:08:36 -0000
Condoleezza Rice is expected to discuss the so-called war on terror in Morocco.
US Libya relations in 'new phase'
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:51:22 -0000
Relations between the US and Libya have entered a "new phase", says US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
Malaysia deploys navy to Somalia
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:50:16 -0000
Malaysia sends three navy ships to the coast of Somalia to protect vessels from piracy.
Deadly rockslide hits Cairo homes
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:45:16 -0000
At least 24 people have died after a rockslide destroys homes in a shanty town in the Egyptian capital, emergency services say.

NYT > Africa

Rescue Slow as Part of Cliff Flattens Cairo District
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:26:22 -0000
A huge chunk of a stone cliff crushed dozens of dense apartment blocks, trapping and killing whole families.
Angolan Election Unit Extends Vote in Capital, Citing Disorganization
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:58:35 -0000
Angolan election officials extended voting by a day in Luanda, but said that the logistical problems that marred the first balloting in 16 years were confined to the city.
In Destitute Swaziland, Leader Lives Royally
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:31:18 -0000
The extravagance of King Mswati III, who has given his 13 wives palaces and BMWs, is spurring protests.

L.A. Times - Africa

Rice meets with Libya leader, a former pariah
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Moammar Kadafi is a gracious host, but the U.S. and Libya are not friends yet. Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi welcomed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to his high-security personal compound Friday, in symbolic recognition that after nearly three decades of animosity, the U.S.-Libyan relationship is now officially normal, if not entirely friendly.
Sudan doesn't see relations improving after the U.S. election
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Officials in Khartoum are renewing efforts to reach agreement with the U.S., spurred by a genocide investigation and the impending end of the Bush administration. The American presidential race and a genocide investigation by the International Criminal Court are propelling Sudanese officials to renew efforts to strike a deal with the U.S. aimed at normalizing relations and improving stability in the volatile Darfur region.
World Briefing
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Ukraine: Cheney urges closer ties with West / Canada: Parliament to be dissolved / Angola: Voters go to polls Cheney pushes ties with West

UN News Centre - Africa

Situation worsening for Horn of Africa's children, warns UN agency
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Almost three million children across the Horn of Africa are at risk of death, disease and malnutrition due to a combination of drought, rising food prices and conflict, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.
Top UN envoy speaks out against piracy off Somali coast
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The top United Nations envoy to Somalia today said that he is extremely alarmed by the rise in piracy off the Horn of Africa nation's coast and deplored the destabilizing effects of the attacks in the region.
UN to train African Union peacekeeping support staff
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The United Nations peacekeeping arm launched a training programme this week for senior officials of the African Union (AU), aimed at improving the planning, deployment and management of its peacekeeping support missions.

The Economist: Middle East and Africa

Somalia: Hunger and terror
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
There has been no pause in the country’s relentless downward spiralIT HAS been a long, dreadful summer for Somalia. The UN says that 3.2m Somalis (out of about 8m) now need aid just to stay alive: a 77% rise on last year. A sixth of Somali infants are at risk of starving to death. Due to what aid organisations call “intolerable insecurity”, almost all international charity workers have left. Offshore, Somali pirates are as bold as ever. They are holding around ten vessels, including three large tankers with 130 crewmen captured this week.Foreign governments still wrangle over Africa’s worst humanitarian and political crisis. UN people working for a deal between Islamist insurgents and the weak Somali government want 8,000 peacekeeping troops to replace the few thousand beleaguered African Union and Ethiopian soldiers. But more senior people in the UN’s peacekeeping office, already failing to get enough troops into Darfur, rule that out. A multinational force would be the next best thing, but who would pay? Mooted Saudi cash has not materialised. ...
Israel: Come and have a good time
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Israelis want foreigners to see their country in a new lightCOUNTRIES, like items in the supermarket, sell better with clever advertising. So Israel, long frustrated by its image as a country tarnished by danger and strife, wants to rebrand itself—as hip, cool, cultured, fun and creative.The initiative comes from Israeli diplomats and Jewish groups in America, whose research shows that even though Israel enjoys strong political support from Americans, its image is far too lean and mean. Asked to describe “Israel house”, one focus group imagined it as arid, all-male and surrounded by barbed wire. The concepts that first spring to mind in polls are conflict, desert and religious extremism. “We want people to know other things about us,” says a top Israeli involved in the scheme. “About our computer chips and health-care innovations.” ...
The West Bank: The villagers hemmed in
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
The Israelis' security barrier continues to threaten Palestinian livelihoodsTHE tear gas has dispersed but the dirt road leading out of the village of Nilin is still strewn with rocks and broken bottles. Strips of carton and carpets, which served as makeshift prayer mats during the clashes that took place the day before, are still spread beneath the olive trees. A Palestinian village of some 5,000 souls west of Ramallah, the Palestinian capital, Nilin is the West Bank’s latest hot spot. Nearby, on Palestinian land, are two Israeli settlements, Modin Illit and Hashmonaim. For the past four months, the people of Nilin, aided by Israeli and foreign campaigners, have been protesting against the barrier the Israelis are planning to build across their land. ...

Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

Rescue slow as part of cliff flattens Cairo district
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
A huge chunk of a stone cliff crushed dozens of apartment blocks and trapping and killing whole families.
A culture clash in Gaza
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
Popular culture in Gaza is considered by many young Gazans to be a necessity, although hard-liners in Hamas are pressing a more fundamentalist agenda on cultural matters.
Angola's governing party takes early lead in election
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
Preliminary results indicated Sunday that the Angolan governing party was headed for a landslide victory in a parliamentary election that opposition parties have branded illegitimate.
Rice travels to Libya to meet with Qaddafi
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
For the first time in more than half a century, a sitting U.S. secretary of state is in Libya, with the arrival of Condoleezza Rice to meet with the man that Ronald Reagan called the "Mad Dog of the Middle East."
The costs of living in a fairy tale kingdom
By BARRY BEARAK Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
A young and handsome king ruled over a land of mountainous splendor near the southern tip of Africa. He liked to get married, and as the years passed he took 13 wives, each of them a great beauty.
Israel bolsters Palestinian Authority's arsenal
By ISABEL KERSHNER Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:02:52 -0000
Some 900 assault rifles were transferred to the Palestinian Authority in late August with Israeli approval.

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