Most of us already realize “normal” is relative. Yet, we are only human. And as such, we can scarcely stop ourselves from the very-human behavior of seizing every available opportunity to try to quantify and define the term.

After years in the doldrums, the housing market appears back on track. Home sales and prices are up, and mortgage rates remain near historic lows, reinvigorating the appeal of home ownership.

A survey shows U.S. home prices rose 10.5 percent in March compared with a year ago, the biggest gain since March 2006.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose 9.3 percent in February compared with a year ago, the most in nearly seven years. The gains were driven by a growing number of buyers who bid on a limited supply of homes.

U.S. homebuilders broke the 1 million mark in March for the first time since June 2008. The gain signals continued strength for the housing recovery at the start of the spring buying season.

Companies that want to sue former workers who have stolen what they say are trade secrets need to prove that what was taken is truly a secret, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled.

If you’re like me, you waited until the final days of the tax season to file your returns. And if you’re like me, you’re thinking there ought to be ways to keep your finances organized throughout the year to avoid the mad scramble as April 15 approaches.

LONDON — Tesco, Britain's largest retailer by sales, is to pull out of the U.S., selling off its lossmaking Fresh & Easy supermarket chain after it failed to transfer its winning formula from the U.K. to the western states.

Recovery seems to be on the minds of many these days as the economy continues to shake off the after-effects of the recession. Housing prices and sales are climbing, the unemployment rate is falling and near record-low mortgage rates are bringing potential buyers who had been reluctant to make a move during the housing downturn back into the market.

San Francisco-based Union Bank is opening a mortgage operations center in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe (TEHM'-pee) and plans to eventually hire about 250 new employees at the site.

The number of Arizona homeowners losing their home to repossession or who are in some stage of the foreclosure process keeps on dropping.

Attorney General Tom Horne did nothing wrong in transferring $50 million from a nationwide mortgage settlement to the state general fund to balance the budget, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

Arizona's self-employed could be in line to get a tax break designed to partly offset a $900 increase in what they're paying to the federal government.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices jumped in January, a sign the housing market is gaining momentum as it nears the spring selling season.

A new report shows 34 percent of all home sales in Arizona last year involved houses in some stage of the foreclosure process.

WASHINGTON — Arizona earned a D in a national report Wednesday that graded states on their families’ financial security in five broad categories.

Careful, East Valley. With apologies to Marty McFly, that forming line many think is leading to recovery instead is into an economic time machine that’s once again taking us back to the future.

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett spoke to an audience of around 80 Wednesday at the Chandler chamber of Commerce’s economic update luncheon, attempting to shed light on a sometimes murky, sometimes confusing state budget scenario in recent years.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices accelerated in November compared with a year ago, pushed higher by rising sales and a tighter supply of available homes.

WASHINGTON — Buying your own health insurance will never be the same.

Attorney General Tom Horne is warning Arizona residents to be on the lookout for a mailer that asks for illegal up-front fees to join a national lawsuit.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, will hold a hiring event 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 9 and 10 at the Phoenix Convention Center to fill more than 900 new jobs.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America says it will spend more than $10 billion to settle mortgage claims resulting from the housing meltdown.