The Chicago 77

15 June 2009 ? After a few sharp increases, mortgage rates went down sharply late Thursday and early Friday. They aren?t down to the previous record lows, but at least it?s a step in the right direction. The Dow is up slightly, while the Nasdaq and S&P are down just a bit. The US dollar [...]

The Postal Service has decided to auction off the site of the old post office at 433 W Van Buren. Built in 1932, this building straddles the Eisenhower Expressway and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the largest postal facility in the US, but was vacated in 1995 when the USPS [...]

10 June 2009 ? Last Wednesday, and again on Monday, mortgage bonds have slipped terribly. Mortgage rates have jumped three times in the last two weeks. If you didn?t lock your 5% or less by now, you might be out of luck. After one severe swing, I was pretty optimistic that things would come back [...]

I have been pessimistic about the chances that neighborhoods like Uptown would continue to renew and rebuild…be a magnet for the middle class. However, after reading this Forbes interview, I’m beginning to think my pessimism may have been misplaced. At least I hope it was and their optimism is correct.

03 June 2009 – Monday afternoon was a blood bath with the mortgage bonds again, plummeting over 180 bps, and sending mortgage rates up again. Should you lock a rate?…read my post on the subject first. They have crept downward a little Tuesday and Wednesday, but not to where they were. The stock market is [...]

The first thing I learned as a transactional real estate attorney was the only sign of success to the parties involved is a successful closing. For many years the fact that the buyer and seller both signed the contract was an assumption of success. I was always confident that I could resolve most issues with [...]

Monday 01 June 2009 ? Mortgage bonds were up over 130 bps last Friday, after dropping over 180 bps last Wednesday, which would have really helped push mortgage rates back down, except that they are down over 70 bps again first thing this Monday morning. Saying rates are on a roller coaster would be an [...]