The Chicago 77

31 August 2009 ? According to an annual study conducted by Forbes magazine, Chicago is the most stressful city to live in for the second year in a row with Los Angeles and New York coming in second and third. The study takes into consideration the housing market, unemployment, cost of living, air quality, number [...]

I recently read a Crain?s Chicago Real Estate article about how the downtown apartment market is improving. The good news about this is that there is finally good news! Chicago?s rental market has been put through the ringer this season and no more bad news is great news. The downtown apartment market is doing marginally [...]

27 August 2009 ? Recent reports have been saying that housing prices are starting to rise in certain areas around the country. Some of the areas included in those reports were the Chicagoland area. As an appraiser I have seen some declining markets moving in the right direction but I wouldn’t say that property values [...]

27 August 2009 ? The mortgage backed bonds opened down 31 bps this morning at 8:00 a.m. However when the stock market opened up lower (currently down 21.77) which helped the mortgage bonds rally and we are now only down 12bps?an improvement of 19bps. Things have quieted down with trading ahead of this afternoons 5-Year [...]

26 August 2009 ? Bonds opened up 3 bps this morning and had a nice rally yesterday afternoon. This has currently put rates at 4.875% to 5.% on the 30-year fixed and 4.375% to 4.5% on the 15-year fixed ( assuming 60% LTV, $417,000 loan amount, Single Family Home purchase, 740+ credit score). Mortgage-backed bonds [...]

26 August 2009 ? JDL Development Corp. won zoning approval from the Chicago Plan Commission for a 15-story, 250-unit apartment tower in Old Town located at 1223 N Wells St. What was initially planned as a four-story auto mall was squashed based on local resident?s concerns/complaints about increased traffic. All the hoop-la prompted Grossinger to [...]

25 August 2009 ? Bonds opened up 3bps, but are currently down 16bps as buyers are a bit cautious with the $42 billion Treasury auction today. Case-Shiller Housing Price Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in June?the 2nd month in a row. Prices rose in 18 of 20 cities used in the survey and [...]

This morning Standard & Poor?s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices numbers were released and the results are surprisingly better than expected. In the Chicago condo market, prices showed an increase of 1.1% from May 2009 to June 2009. Over recent months we have seen the leveling off of pricing. This current report shows signs the Chicago [...]

25 August 2009 ? Recent changes to the City’s Olympic plans to level all but one building of the near-south Michael Reese campus include reusing additional buildings that were designed by architect Walter Gropius. After voting down a proposal to place the entire campus on the National Registry of Historic Places, the City’s landmarks commission [...]

24 August 2009 ? Today the bond market opened up 3 bps and is currently enjoying a rally with bonds up 47 bps. The rally is basically in response to the stock market pulling back from earlier highs. There are no economic reports due today, but the rest of the week will bring: Durable Orders, [...]

Chicago-area home sales are slightly up in July compared to July ’08, the first year-over-year increase in over 3 years, as reported by the Illinois Association of Realtors. The graph below more accurately shows the details. [TABLE=10] Price Disconnect Between Buyers & Sellers The stats are indicative of how the market is responding. August has [...]

24 August 2009 ? With the sale of the Chicago Cubs finalized to the Rickets family, one has to wonder of the future of the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The franchise and the ball park have become Chicago?s most beloved assets. Year round fans flock to the Lakeview neighborhood to take their picture in front [...]

21 August 2009 ? Bonds opened up 3 bps today but quickly turned South and are now down 41 bps which is a change down of 44bps. The stock market is rallying on the news of existing home sales being 5.2 million versus the 5.0 million that was expected. Bonds are under a lot of [...]