CB Richard Ellis -- "Research & Insight". Some reports are free.
Current News
In general, for national business news on real estate, the Wall Street Journal often has a Real Estate section [GT users - see Factiva's News Pages feature for latest 2 weeks of coverage]
Link is to website for some free content.
GT users: periodical is full-text in several databases - Gale Business Insights and ABI/Inform Collection have the daily news; Business Source Complete the quarterly.
Released monthly - "Existing Home Sales". Based on transaction closings from MLS (multiple listing services). Also "Pending Home Sales", based on signed contracts.
Definitions of "new" and "existing", and the difference between the Census Bureau data and that of the National Assoc. of Realtors, is at: http://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/new_vs_existing.html