The Chicago 77

Miami-based luxury high-rise developers Crescent Heights put Cityfront Place under contract for $83 million and the deal is supposed to close this month. This acquisition is the first downtown apartment building to sell in over two years which is a good indicator that the rental market might rebound before any other division in the housing market.

On Friday, President Obama signed into law an extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit. To qualify, buyers must sign a contract before April 30, 2010 and close on the property by June 30, 2010.

I frequently get asked the difference between a short sale and a foreclosure / Real Estate Owned (REO) property. Buyers in today?s market who are cash heavy and have a flexible time frame may be in the best position to purchase one of these foreclosed properties.

Chicago saw an increase in home prices from July 2009 to August 2009 of 1.7%, but a 12.7% decline of year over year prices. No matter who is pulling the data and how they chart it, the message is the same ? first time buyers and jobs.

14 October 2009 ?Today’s bonds opened down 47bps and, after staging a rally, they were pushed back down. We are currently down 37bps and are testing resistance levels. As recommended in recent posts, locking was the bias since we reached a low point in mortgage rates on 10/2/2009. While rates are up slightly, these are [...]

Representing both buyers and sellers I have learned the impact of price changes in this particular market. It is home-buying process is not only about the value of the property, but also the buyer’s perception that the seller really wants to sell. Sellers Must Acknowledge Price Pressures Sellers need to remember, particularly right now, they [...]

Upon a mixed bag of numbers released last week by the National Association of Realtors, Standard & Poor?s Case-Shiller Housing Numbers released this morning show continued movement upwards making July the sixth month in a row with slight gain. ?The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem [...]

25 September 2009 ? With a mixed bag a housing numbers released yesterday, the Chicago condominium market appears to continue to face challenges while the single family market continues to gain momentum. There still continues to be a glut of condo inventory with increasingly difficult lending guidelines facing buyers. Lenders are scrutinizing the financial health [...]

11 September 2009 ? More signs of improvement in the Chicago housing market according to the most recent Capital Home Data Index Market Report. With the increasing number of sales, the number of distressed properties sold decreased by almost 10% as home prices increased placing Chicago in sixth position among the highest performing major housing [...]

The week after Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of Chicago?s fall real estate. As this has been a period of non-traditional activity, I have thought carefully about what are my expectations. The strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace will depend on what type of property in what area at what price. There is no [...]

02 Sept 2009 ? In keeping with yesterdays theme of ?Is your neighborhood appreciating or depreciating?? here are a few more popular Chicago neighborhoods and their year-to-date sales for 2008 vs 2009 (January 1 through September 2nd): These averages are for 2 bedroom / 2 bath condos only: Lakeview 2008: 429 condos sold with an [...]

01 September 2009 ? It is no secret that the housing market is a very larger driver of the economy. As we see some rebound in the housing market some are getting out there and testing the waters again. Here are a few neighborhoods that have held steady in this declining market: One bedroom condominiums [...]

21 August 2009 ? According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) the Chicago area ranks at position 174 in the nation and 39th in the region in housing affordability for the second quarter of 2009. Indianapolis has topped the list for the last 16 quarters. In the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index just [...]