Home prices went up in 2014, and for some metros, affordability did too. For most homebuyers, especially those entering the market for the very first time, affordability is chief among concerns leading up to a purchase. In an analysis of

Until the economy improves, housing will never fully recover – and the stats are not encouraging. Quite a bit of our reporting, in recent weeks, has focused on inequality and income disparity, and for good reason – a housing

Where in Chicagoland have new home sales risen the most? Last week, we reported on the rate of housing starts across Chicagoland’s counties; what has the environment looked like for new home sales, during that same time? To find

The new year is always a precarious time for the new construction marketplace. Residential construction spending in the Chicagoland area was just shy of $139 million in January, a 10 percent increase from Jan. 2014, according to new numbers

A new survey from The Pew Charitable Trusts provided insights into why Americans are hesitant to enter the housing market. Set to the backdrop of 2007’s financial tempest, 2014 was comparably a good year for many American families. However,

The latest price index from CoreLogic covered home prices through January. Home prices in the Chicagoland area rose 4.9 percent year-over-year in January, according to the latest Home Price Index from CoreLogic. Though that’s on the lower end of

January may have seemed like a disappointing month of construction, but a deeper look at the trends reveals much to smile about. Overall construction spending in January was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $971.4 billion, according to the

What were the top-selling suburbs in Chicagoland, last month? A few days back, we wrote about how several market trends are pushing down home sales in the Chicagoland area, with low inventory and the falling market share of distressed

Pending home sales shot up in January, suggesting positive numbers down the road. Pending home sales hit their highest level in 18 months in January, according to the latest analysis from the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home

In the end, buying a home all comes down to dollars and cents, and Chicagoland’s qualifying incomes differ in interesting ways with the rest of the U.S. To qualify for a mortgage on a 5 percent down payment, Chicagoland

Construction may have been up in Chicagoland, but what counties are seeing the most activity? Housing starts in the 12-county Chicagoland region rose 17.3 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to new analysis from MetroStudy; at 5,708 new units

When it comes to a home’s features, does one’s gender/relationship status impact how they prioritize the features? Walk-in closets, new kitchen appliances, nine-foot ceilings, single-level living – all are distinctive features to a home, and research from NAR suggests

First-time homebuyers are a scarce bunch, these days. Just when it seemed that the news on first-time homebuyers could not get any more distressing, here comes a new report from RealtyTrac to pour salt on the wounds. In short,

It’s a whole new world out there for new construction, as stunning stat after stunning stat drives home. The Census Bureau’s latest report on new single-family home sales is out, and its findings, at least on the surface, were

SmartAsset evaluated refinancing around Illinois and the country to find that Chicago residents are saving more. In Cook County, Chicagoans are saving more each year on mortgage refinancing than anywhere else in the state, an analysis from SmartAsset, a

The past few months, we’ve reported on the many thorny issues facing Millennials – that their wages in many industries have plummeted in recent years; that their savings rate is negative; that they have pushed roommate rates up to