The Chicago 77

Market watchers believe the next few months will be a mixed bag for buyers and sellers. If unemployment does not abate, distressed properties will continue to impact market pricing for months and even years in the future.

The Chicago Tribune posted an article in yesterday’s Business section titled, “Chicago housing prices drop even faster.” In the article there was a graph which posted home prices and their price reductions broken down by neighborhood. The news source for the pricing was Trulia. Trulia is a website where seller’s and agents alike are welcome […]

The Illinois Association of Realtors is reporting that March home sales in Chicago were up 40.6% over February. February 2009 saw 840 transactions and there were 1,181 in March. However, year-on-year the numbers are way down, with a drop of 42.2% (down from 2,044 in March of 2008). Chicago’s prices are proving to be sticky?the […]

Housing starts went up in February. By now you have read in many, many, many places about how the Commerce Department announced this amazing fact yesterday (click here for the PDF). First of all, what is a “housing start?” The Commerce Department defines them as, “the number of single or multi-family dwellings that have begun […]

The Illinois Association of Realtors® (IAR) announced yesterday that both home prices and home sales were down in Chicago when comparing December 2008 to December 2007. They are also down when comparing all of 2008 to 2007. Chicago Home Sales Figures In December a total of 1,215 homes were sold in Chicago. This is down […]

Simple supply and demand are having a strong impact in the South Loop. A quick search in MRED for condos in the South Loop (I defined it as Congress to 18th, Dan Ryan to Lake Michigan) shows a huge number of condos on the market. If we look under the new, stricter maximum HUD loan […]

Commercial real estate is going to have a challenging 2009. High vacancy rates, lower rents, and tight credit are all a recipe for a very difficult time for commercial landlords. This is evident in nearly any retail street in Chicago with more and more soaped up windows.

The inaccuracies of Zillow.com’s Zestimates are not looked upon all that favorably by many real estate agents, brokers, and appraisers. I recently attended the SPARKt conference for technology in real estate where Brian Stalizer of Zillow spoke. After he gave his overview of Zillow and explained how they make money, he opened the floor to […]