E-mail 
Print Prices for single-family homes climbed in most U.S. cities in the second quarter and values nationally jumped the most since 2006 as real estate markets stabilized.
The median sales price increased from a year earlier in 110 of 146 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. In the first quarter, 74 areas had gains.
U.S. housing prices are beginning to lift off the bottom after the worst housing slump since the 1930s as buyers compete for a tight supply of available properties. At the end of June, 2.39 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 24 percent fewer than a year earlier, the Realtors said.
One threat to home values is the so-called shadow inventory of delinquent properties that have yet to enter the market. U.S. foreclosure starts rose 6 percent last month from July 2011, Irvine, Calif.-based data provider RealtyTrac said Thursday.
More than 1 million GE dishwashers are being recalled because of a fire hazard.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday the voluntary recall includes about 1.3 million GE, GE Adora, GE Eterna, GE Profile and Hotpoint dishwashers. The machines’ heating elements can fail and cause fires. GE has received seven reports of fires, three of which caused extensive damage. No injuries have been reported.
The dishwashers were sold nationwide from March 2006 through August 2009 for $350 to $850.
The government said people should stop using the dishwashers and immediately disconnect the electric supply by shutting off the fuse or circuit breaker. Do not return recalled dishwashers. GE will provide free repairs or rebates toward new dishwashers.
JPMorgan Chase on Thursday formally revised its first-quarter financial results to show a lower profit, after deciding that traders at its main investment arm had overstated the value of certain derivatives.
The reduction followed the bank’s internal investigation into the nearly $6 billion in trading losses revealed in recent months.
In a regulatory filing, the New York bank said the probe found information that “suggested that certain individuals may have been seeking to avoid showing the full amount of the losses being incurred.”
As it revealed last month, the bank now says that it earned $4.92 billion for the quarter ended March 31. That’s $459 million less than the $5.38 billion originally reported.
The president of the pilots’ union at American Airlines resigned Thursday after pilots rejected a concessionary contract offer that he supported.
David Bates supported ratification of a company offer to give pilots pay raises and a 13.5 percent stake in the company after it emerges from bankruptcy protection. He portrayed it as the best deal possible under difficult circumstances. But 61 percent of pilots voted to reject the offer, which contained outsourcing provisions that they opposed.
American, the nation’s third-largest airline, has about 7,500 active pilots. The airline is seeking about $1 billion in annual labor-cost savings from pilots, flight attendants and other employees.
