Weekly Roundup: Storm effects, U.S. price and sales trends, credit scores, timing of rate locks, buyer rebates and growing optimism. Much more!

Daylight Savings Time Ends Saturday Night

Firm cost of storm’s damage to area homes long way off, but total will be astronomical — perhaps as much as 64 percent of $50 billion total

Sandy ravages Long Island’s East End, decimating homes of the rich and famous

Storm could shape how residential housing along the water is built, marketed, sold

Buyfolio collaborative service for consumers and agents finds deep-pocketed buyer

‘Prewar’ speaks volumes

Boards may promise buyer applicants one thing, then do something else

World Series pitcher lists California mansion for $11.45 million

Buyer of late pop star’s estate so eager to move in that he’ll occupy the place before sale closes

Actress takes substantial loss on her sale of Hollywood Hills house fit for a queen

Late Oscar nominee’s duplex overlooking Central Park on the market for $13.95 million

Case-Shiller records continuing upward price trend

Homewnership, rental vacancy rates

The Big Apple: Rentals hot, Hamptons too. More!

Employment posts gain in June, but jobless rate continues to stall

The city’s unemployment rate in June went to 8.7 percent from May’s 8.6 percent, the state Department of Labor reported.

The one-month rise was not itself a significant increase, but after falling consistently each month for nearly a year starting last spring, there have now been four consecutive months without a noticeable decline in the city’s jobless rate.

Most of the drop in the rate from its 10 percent peak has come not from significant job gains but as a result of discouraged job seekers leaving the work force.

The city added 51,400 private sector jobs in the 12 months ending in June. The 1.6 percent growth rate, “is pretty good by historical standards,” according to James Brown, principal economist at the labor department.

Rental rigmarole challenges prospective tenants

With a vacancy rate in Manhattan of under 1 percent, apartments sometimes rent in hours, not days or weeks. Good tenants are not that hard to find. On top of that, evicting problem tenants can be expensive and time-consuming.

So, as the New York Times observes, most landlords here require a lot of information.

They want to see a prospective tenant’s tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, proof of employment, photo identification and, sometimes, reference letters from previous landlords.

Everyone will run a credit check (many Manhattan landlords look for a score above 700) and just about all, from big management firms to small-time landlords, want to know that your gross income is somewhere between 40 and 50 times the monthly rent.

Luxury sales in the East End