Advances in technology have allowed people to search for real estate from the comfort of their home. They can review floor plans and photos, even use Google maps to get a feel for what might be their new neighborhood.

A new CoreLogic report shows that falling REO numbers are helping bolster home sales and reduce distressed sales. Distressed sales, including real estate-owned and short sales, continued tumbling in February, falling 0.8 percentage points from January and 3 percentage points

NAR’s report showed improvement in pending home sales, but also an increase in the share of traditional buyers compared to investors. Spring is in full bloom, bringing with it a wave of antsy buyers who are ready to make

All the evidence suggests that renters are not rushing to the homebuying sphere. It would seem to be a perfect environment for homebuying. Not only are rents rising by considerable amounts, but relative to the costs of homebuying, it currently

How are home prices looking, as the spring market gears up for action? Home prices in the Chicagoland area continued their slow, steady progress in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s. Per the Case-Shiller’s analysis,

A new study from NAR shows more than 50 percent of brokerages are failing their agents in terms of providing proactive safety procedures. On Sept. 31, 2014, after an exhaustive search, Little Rock, Ark. police found the body of

A profile of the ultra rich from around the world reveal some interesting facts about luxury real estate buyers. Luxury is a butterfly concept, fluttering about the industry with a thousand hands trying to grab hold. But the idea of luxury

Where, in the vast wilderness of Chicagoland’s suburbs, are home sales the highest? Last week, we reported that after a disappointing couple of months, home sales in the Chicagoland area jolted back in a major way in March, with

Student loan debt may be an even bigger problem than we initially thought. Here’s an eye-opening statistic – 31.5 percent of Americans who are paying down their student debt are at least a month behind on their payments. That

Where, among Chicago’s varied neighborhoods, were home sales the highest? Earlier this week, we reported that home sales in the Chicagoland region jolted back to life in March, putting up some of its best numbers sine 2013. How did that

Some news outlets are hyperventilating about the latest new home sales report, but the reality is more encouraging. The Census Bureau released its latest report on new home sales this morning, and on the surface, it’s a doozy. Finishing

Relatively speaking, our market is not nearly as fast as one might believe. Chicago may have a reputation as a progressive, fast-moving city, but that is not the case for the majority of the metro area’s real estate listings,

NAR home sales report brings optimism. The National Association of Realtors released its existing-home sales report for March, and the early verdict is good, with sales, prices and inventory showing strong signs of improvement. Across all property types, existing-home sales

This year had been a modest one for real estate in Chicagoland, but March has brought the marketplace back to life. After two disappointing months, the Chicagoland housing market roared back to life in March, with sales in the

While banks took over the majority of flipping in the downturn, with high prices and low inventory, investors are again reentering the game. In the wake of the financial crisis, when home prices were low and demand nonexistent, the

Peter Thomas Ricci, Chicago Agent magazine’s assistant editor, was interviewed on the latest episode of “Big Money Real Estate,” Ilyce Glink’s program on current trends in residential real estate. Watch the interview below, and hear Peter’s perspective on affordability and