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The list of U.S. housing markets that showed measurable and sustained improvement dropped by four, from 84 to 80, in August 2012, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). This number includes representatives from 32 states plus the District of Columbia.

Shifting home prices caused nine markets to fall from the list, while 75 markets that retained their places and five new ones were added.

The No. 1 ranked beach house in the United States -- according to a real estate website -- is a modern-style Montauk, N.Y., home with a price tag in excess of $19 million.

The house topped the list put out by TopTenRealEstateDeals.com, which ranked the Top 10 Coolest Beach Homes for 2012.

Recent promotions for a refinancing deal through Third Federal Savings & Loan include a Home Depot connection -- a $100 gift card for borrowers.

“Open your Third Federal Smart Rate Mortgage by Aug. 24 and we’ll give you a $100 gift card to The Home Depot,” writes Third Federal chairman and CEO Marc Stefanski in the postscript to a letter to mass letter to homeowners. 

Wallingford, Conn.-based Danver Stainless Steel Cabinetry, maker of stainless steel outdoor cabinetry and amenities for outdoor living, rolled out the ASKO Outdoor Dishwasher. ASKO is the latest addition to the company’s one-stop shopping approach to outdoor kitchens, living and entertainment centers. 

Lowe’s has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to implement Microsoft Office 365 across more than 1,745 stores, 200,000 employees and its corporate offices in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Office 365 will help the home improvement retailer improve customer service by providing collaboration tools to increase communication among its stores and employees. The technology will be available for Lowe's employees soon and will help customers tap into the collective expertise of Lowe’s work force.

Sometimes, the editorial offices of Home Channel News will get sample products to review. Seldom do we write a full commentary about them.

The Rescue! Pop! Fly Trap is one of those rare products worthy of a commentary.

I don’t like the name. It contains too many exclamation points. (The New York Times editors have a longstanding rule: they can use one exclamation point per century.)

But, man, does that thing catch flies!

The American Hardware Manufacturers Association’s AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index’s Current Situation Index improved in May to 312.5 from 308.3 in April (October 2008 = 100), while the Future Expectations Index fell to 229.3 from 239.7.

In comparing current sales levels with year-ago levels, 75% of respondents said sales were higher in May versus year-ago levels, up from 74% in April. For May, 12% reported sales were even, and 12% said sales were below year-ago levels.

Boise, Idaho-based BMC is rolling out a suite of enterprise mobile apps called “BMC 2 Go” that will transform sales and operations business processes, making employees more mobile, productive and effective through high-value Apple iPhone and iPad applications.

Boston-based tech firm Apperian partnered with BMC to provide its Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE) as the iOS app management platform to deploy and manage mobile applications for its nationwide network of sales and operations personnel.

Gas prices show a minor retreat -- down to a national average of $3.78 for a gallon of regular. Stocks are all over the board, and the unemployment rate inches downward.

Half the stocks on the Home Channel Stock Roundup are in negative territory for the month, and half are in positive. Compared with last year, though, the majority of stocks are showing strong growth.

The nation’s unemployment rate took a slight turn for the better, falling to 8.2%. Also on the “Consumer watch” section, gas prices rose a penny.

Hurd Windows and Doors has been named a 2012 Exporter of the Year winner for marketing its Made in America products in 20 countries worldwide. The award was presented by ThinkGlobal Inc., publisher of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial News USA.

The Exporter of the Year award in the Building/Construction/Hardware category was presented to Hurd’s President and CEO Dominic Truniger and Director of International Sales Scott Klieforth during the Asia/Pacific Business Outlook conference in Los Angeles.