In the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, home sales in February totaled 5,611, a decrease of 1.3 percent from Feb. 2014, according to the latest analysis from the Illinois Association of Realtors. Though still a decrease, February’s sales activity

The single-family home market for new construction has trended towards affluence, and so has the rental market. The last couple months, we’ve been reporting with regularity on how our nation’s issues with inequality have manifested themselves in new construction,

Sure, negative equity has improved overall, but what of properties on the lower-end of price spectrum? Though 25.1 percent of mortgage properties in Chicagoland remain in negative equity, that pales in comparison to the 41.5 percent of properties in

Homeowners are benefiting from rising home prices that improve equity, but that doesn’t mean negative equity still isn’t a problem. Equity continued building in the fourth quarter of 2014, CoreLogic’s newest report concluded, showing that by year’s end, 1.2

Homebuilders are feeling a little less confident this month. A key measure of builder confidence declined this month, with the Housing Market Index (HMI) dropping two points to a level of 53. Released monthly by the NAHB, the HMI tracks

The latest construction report looks bad, but as usual, there’s more than meets the eye. The numbers do not warm the heart – last month, housing starts were down 17 percent from January and 3.3 percent from Feb. 2014,

TD Bank survey shows what clients want: more information. In the wake of the rebuilding year of 2014, the market, while still in recovery, has been cast in a distinctly more appealing light, as consumers are once again eager

Everyone has seen the various reports that the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen in recent years, but how much as it really declined? To find out, we took a deep dive into the Census Bureau’s data on the matter,

You may think you understand housing affordability, but chances are you’re relying on limited measurements. How affordable is Chicagoland’s housing market? The answer to that question is more complicated than meets the eye, and it suggests some very interesting

What are some of the defining traits of homebuyers in today’s housing market? Every spring, Christmas comes early in the form of NAR’s Generational Survey, a massively detailed look at homebuyers, sellers and the generational divides that exist between

What suburban markets in Chicagoland are seeing the greatest level of competition? Last week, we reported on the top-selling suburbs in Chicagoland, and how the Aurora, Naperville and Joliet markets were once again at the top. Those three communities, though, have

A new report from CoreLogic highlights improvements to the nation’s share of all cash sales. Unfortunately, it’s still high. It’s a new housing market in 2015. Policies are shifting, new legislation is being written, and in an eddying whirl

Sure, unemployment has been falling, but the way we measure unemployment is riddled with problems Last week, we reported that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in February, the lowest it’s been in nearly seven years. News

The nation is healing, and as a result foreclosure inventories are thinning out across the nation. How did our city do? Foreclosure numbers responded positively to a healing economy in January, dropping significantly, CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report revealed. Total

Zillow compares employment and income growth to determine the best markets to be in right now. How did our city do? The nuances discerning a good economy from a bad one are plenty and complicated, but for a brief

There were several aspects of the new jobs report that real estate agents should be aware of. The government released its latest jobs report earlier today, and as with past reports, there was a subtle mixture of highly positive and slightly