After nearly 17 years lobbying on behalf of local Realtors, Brian Bernardoni is leaving his post at CAR. Chicago Agent magazine asked him what’s next for Chicago and the association, and whether or not he’s going to run for office.

Opportunities for Illinois homebuyers have increased as home sales trended lower in June and median prices stayed relatively flat, according to data from Illinois Realtors. However, one factor that doesn’t favor buyers is the fact that inventory remained low.

RE/MAX’s June 2019 Housing Report for Chicagoland shows overall indicators of slower sales and moderately increasing prices. But the view depends a great deal on which county you’re selling in.

Coldwell Banker chose a ‘Mainstreet, U.S.A’ office in Chicagoland to try out its new branding. Here’s how it’s going so far.

It’s clear more affordable housing is needed, but industry experts take different approaches to solving this common problem.

Two Chicago-based mortgage companies have now officially joined up with CrossCountry Mortgage and Kris Berger moves to Compass.

Low unemployment, rising home prices and responsible underwriting are all identified as sources for these positive numbers. Still, there’s one major factor external to the economy that can have a major impact on the rate of foreclosures in a given area.

A recent report estimates that the average trip to work for Chicagoans clocks in at 31.8 minutes. While no one likes sitting in traffic, what to do about it is another question.

In a big-name move announced this week, Drussy Hernandez will become Fulton Grace Realty’s first-ever vice president of agent development. With decades of experience under her belt, Hernandez is a well-known figure in the Chicago real estate world, and says the move will provide “more of what I’m used to: that spirit of collaboration and belonging and welcome.”

Chicago’s newly-appointed commissioner of the Department of Housing gets an earful at city hall, livability may not be priced into real estate, a first-of-its-kind graduate certificate in real estate development is coming this fall and much more in our weekly local news roundup.

A provision within the most recent tax reform bill attempts to remedy the place-based polarization that’s plaguing many communities across the country, including Chicago. CAR’s Commercial Forum recently hosted a seminar on the issue, bringing together real estate professionals, community leaders and even a key architect of the program to discuss its impact.

While sales may be down, the number of attached homes that went under contract is on the rise. Also, zoning standards are softened to make way for a new suburban town center and a new study looks at renter stats in Cook County.

The latest RE/MAX report for the Chicago metro area shows some improvement over last month, but year-over-year numbers still fall short of national totals.

Two historically affordable neighborhoods see rapid rent increases, Pritzker’s budget begins to pay off for real estate and more new residential development is proposed for Fulton Market.

For every home sold in the state, Illinois’ economy generated $18,000 of income from things like real estate commissions, fees and moving expenses related to a purchase. These expenses were about 9 percent of the median home price, but constituted 27 percent of a home sale’s economic impact.

In this week’s roundup of local news, lawmakers ask the governor to pump the brakes on another mega-project, new residential developments are coming to Barrington and Schaumburg, Ald. King said no thanks to a casino at the former Michael Reese site and more.