Construction spending increased 9.2 percent in 2012, according to the latest analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau, closing out what has been the most positive year for the construction industry in the post-bubble housing

Foreclosure inventory fell in 2012 from 1.5 million homes to 1.2 million, a 19.5 percent decline that further demonstrates the progress the U.S. real estate made last year, according to the latest National Foreclosure Report from

The nation’s largest homebuilders, including D.R. Horton, Ryland Group and PulteGroup, reported a very promising fourth quarter, offering the strongest confirmation yet that the U.S. housing construction sector has turned the

In an effort to shore up its troubled finances, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced several changes to how it manages its loans, including increasing the mortgage insurance premiums for new

Another day, another hugely optimistic analysis for rental demand in the U.S. real estate market. FirstService Residential Realty, the nation’s largest residential single-family property management company according to HousingWire, is the latest to throw its hat in the ring,

1.82 million Currently, there are approximately 1.82 million homes for sale; that’s a decline of 8.5 percent from December and 21.6 percent from a year ago, and housing inventory is now at its lowest level since May 2005. Will

Everywhere you look nowadays, the housing market is showing improvement. Home prices are increasing, home sales and housing inventory are stabilizing and even homebuilding is beginning to pick up. Yet, amidst all those signs of recovery, one sign of

The housing market’s effect on the general economy – or, the “spillover effect,” as its called by some – is often the trump card among housing analysts when debating the merit of real estate, the fact that though a

Chicago home prices bounced back in a respectable way in the November Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, increasing 0.8 percent year-over-year and reversing an unfortunate trend of falling home prices for the city, according to the latest release from Standard

The Realtor Party was something new from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Though the famously democratic group was already one of the most active lobbying groups in the U.S., the Realtor Party made the association’s political influence official,

The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), one of the best indicators in housing for future home sales, posted strong numbers in December, increasing 6.9 percent year-over-year in

The Internet has produced an interesting evolution in modern shopping behaviors. Because shopping on the Web is so exceedingly easy, it’s become quite common for consumers to find something they want to buy, and then sleep on it –

MRED found that the most popular loans used last year were conventional loans, at 43.8 percent, and that cash sales were next highest, at 37.3 percent. The total number of properties closed in Chicagoland in 2012 was 7,445, and

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) topped off a week of mortgage rule rollouts by launching the agency’s guidelines for loan officer and broker compensation Friday. Among other provisions, the CFPB’s final rule keeps originators from steering borrowers into

According to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Housing Affordability Index, 2012 fared well compared to previous years. The trade group made an important distinction, noting that though the affordability conditions mark “a great year for buyers who could

Existing-homes sales eased in December, while limited inventory maintained the upward momentum in home prices. Total existing-home sales declined 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million in December from a downwardly revised 4.99 million in