The competitive homebuying market showed signs of loosening up last month as bidding wars dropped from May despite being higher than they were a year ago. 

Realty ONE Group announced the grand opening of its first Chicago franchise under the brand Realty ONE Group Leaders. 

It could take Chicago-area renters more than seven years to save for a down payment in today’s market.

The purchase of the tech company and expansion into Valparaiso is among many advances @properties has made over the last two years.

Despite an average nationwide uptick, Chicago rents declined year over year in May.

Housing markets across the country saw new listings growth in June, as the median list price hit yet another all-time high, and Chicago was no exception. 

“We’re seeing similar pressures across the country, which is why the National Association of Realtors wants to create incentives for homebuilders to help meet the growing housing demand.” — MORe CEO John Gormley

Suburban Jungle provides pre-search consultation services to homebuyers to help them find the ideal neighborhood or suburb for their needs and match them with a vetted real estate agent.

Agents at @properties who earned more than a quarter-million dollars in commissions for the first time with the company were awarded a high-end attaboy by the brokerage for their work in 2020.

The program allows these temporary renters to recoup 50% of the rent they pay (up to 2.5% of the sales price) during construction as a credit toward their condo at closing.

Inventory levels rebounded last month, finally showing signs of recovery following a year of historical declines. 

The typical increase in home sales as summer approaches failed to materialize nationwide last month, with average sales dropping 0.2% from April to May, but month-over-month sales in Chicago bucked the trend, climbing 4.3%, according to the RE/MAX May National Housing Report.

Illinois is the 18th-best state to live in the country, according to WalletHub’s 2021 Best States to Live In list. 

CoreLogic says the boost in equity will help stave off foreclosures, but the share of homes underwater in the metro Chicago area was at 6.1% at the end of the first quarter of 2021, outpacing the national rate of 2.6%.

Experts at Builder Magazine recently came out with their Local Leaders list for 2020, which ranks the country’s 50 largest new-home markets based on closings by the end of the year.

Some cities fared better than others with the global pandemic and Chicago is one of them, according to The Economist’s 2021 Livability Index’s ranking of the most livable cities in the world.