Agreement

Sell 'em if you got 'em. Six words that sum up today's newly reinvigorated residential real estate market in the eight-county Philadelphia region. Sales volume is up, and desirable houses are attracting multiple offers, local brokers and agents report. In many municipalities and certain city neighborhoods, low supply of available homes is driving prices up. All of which signals a strength, here and across the country, not seen since the U.S. housing market went bust nearly seven years ago, taking the wider economy down with it. Houses are suddenly selling so quickly, there is a shortage, said Kit Anstey, of Prudential Fox & Roach in West Chester.

The Neshaminy school board gave final approval Thursday to a teachers' contract that increases pay but removes now-rare perks - such as full coverage of health-care premiums - and ends the longest stalemate between teachers and a district in recent history. The board's vote was unanimous. The union overwhelmingly approved the agreement last week. Ritchie Webb, the school board president, said before the vote that the contract acknowledges the most recent economic downturn as well as the district's rising costs for pension contributions and health care: "We have a contract that is based in reason and financially doable.

Who owns my mortgage? That's a question I have been asked almost two dozen times in the four weeks since Christmas, and the reason is always the same: A change is needed. Someone is trying to refinance the mortgage or trying to save a house from foreclosure, among possible scenarios. Finding the answer to this question has become extremely important to many homeowners, but especially to those in financial trouble. The many programs designed to stem the record tide of foreclosures have different requirements, depending on where your mortgage ended up after you signed that huge stack of papers at settlement.

Nine years after torrential rains burst 17 dams in Burlington County's lake region and flooded more than 200 homes, a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the residents is drawing to a close. This week the homeowners reached a tentative $2.5 million settlement with KSA Inc., a now-defunct Medford engineering firm that had been retained to inspect and repair four of the dams, according to Ed Petkevis, a Roebling lawyer who participated in the class-action litigation. The lawsuit alleged negligence by the engineers, the dam owners, and the Townships of Medford, Evesham, and Tabernacle and Medford Lakes Borough, where the failed dams were concentrated.

Less than an hour before the 8 p.m. tip-off, 76ers employees are scurrying around the Wells Fargo Center, hoping this Saturday night will unfold as planned. It is late March, and the team is handing out Allen Iverson bobblehead dolls. Iverson himself is scheduled to attend, a rare public appearance for the 37-year-old former NBA superstar. He will be introduced during a pregame ceremony and then watch the game from Sixers chief executive Adam Aron's suite. But Iverson isn't here yet, and a troubling rumor is passing through the arena's arteries: Iverson has missed his flight.

A local unit of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has a central role in a $200 million public-private project announced Wednesday to develop antibiotics against biological terrorism and treat drug-resistant infections in health-care settings around the world. The U.S. government will pay Glaxo $40 million in the first 18 months, and, if the project is on track, $160 million more over five years. Glaxo will contribute more of its own money to the project. Glaxo is one of the few big pharmaceutical companies that still works on antibiotics.

Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel is the favorite to be the first manager fired this season, according to online sportsbook Bovada . Although Manuel was beloved during the Phillies run of five straight division titles, topped by the World Series win in 2008, he's now 69, in the last year of his contract, and the team's off to another slow start, falling to 6-9 after getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds. This morning, sports yakker Angelo Cataldi led a call for Manuel's ouster, saying, "We would really love it to happen," promoting a poll and getting lots of agreement from callers.

HARRISBURG - The state House on Wednesday approved a $28.3 billion no-tax-hike budget, increasing education funding by $100 million and directing millions more to the disabled. The 108-92 vote, after five hours of debate, kicks off three weeks of talks with the Senate and the Corbett administration to arrive at a final spending plan. "This budget is a blueprint for good governance," said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny). "It does not increase taxes, and provides the highest level of education funding and provides for the most vulnerable.

Embattled Acme Markets' corporate parent, Supervalu Inc., announced Thursday the sale of five grocery chains, including Malvern-based Acme, to a group of private-equity firms and real estate investors. Supervalu announced a "definitive agreement" to sell its Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, and Star Market stores and related in-store pharmacies for $100 million and the assumption of $3.2 billion in debt. The buyer is AB Acquisition L.L.C., an affiliate of an investor consortium, former Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management L.P. Investors include Philadelphia based Lubert-Adler Partners, as well as Kimco Realty Corp., Klaff Realty L.P., and Schottenstein Real Estate Group.

Kobe Bryant's parents have apologized to him as part of the terms of settling the bicoastal lawsuits involving the sale of the basketball star's memorabilia at an auction house in Camden County. "We regret our actions and statements related to the Kobe Bryant auction memorabilia," Joseph and Pamela Bryant wrote in a statement distributed by Kobe Bryant's lawyer, Mark D. Campbell of Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles. Instead of selling more than 50 items consigned by his mother, the auction house will sell six, including some championship rings and two of Bryant's Lower Merion High School basketball uniforms.