The increase follows a decline earlier in February that cut the number of homeowners in forbearance plans to less than 2.7 million, the first dip below that threshold since April 2020.

To help you best serve clients in these uncertain times, we consulted with three of the city’s top lenders to find out their expectations for 2021 and what changes caused by the pandemic are here to stay.

If Realtors, lenders and homebuyers are the stars of the real estate show, Fannie and Freddie are the unseen producers who bankroll the production from backstage.

This German Catholic church and adjoining schoolhouse, built in the late 19th century, has been converted to a B&B, event hall and duplex — it even comes with its own fully functioning restaurant.

The property is the perfect spot to get back to nature and enjoy some peace and quiet.

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers has joined the RE/MAX Strategic Alliances program to help grow homeownership among minority groups.

The news that Zillow is purchasing ShowingTime for $500 million sent shockwaves through the residential real estate industry in February. See what Chicagoland readers had to say.

The median sales price in the first month of 2021 was up 11.8% from January 2020 to $285,000, nearly matching the record high of $290,000 set last August.

In Chicago, 31.9% of Redfin offers faced bidding wars in January compared to 26.3% in December 2020.

After declining for years, the size of new single-family homes has begun to level off as consumers spend more time at home, a National Association of Home Builders analysis found.

NAR put together its “Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America” report to study the hurdles that persistently block minorities from owning homes.

The study largely dispels a long-held belief that nearby homes lose value once low-income housing is built in an area.

More than 60% of certifications across the top states, including Illinois, were offices, health care, higher education and K-12 projects, the report noted.

The website, which notes that housing costs take up about one third of average spending for households, configured data by assessing the median home value and mortgage payment to show the minimum level of income necessary.

The firm is Detroit’s top residential broker for downtown and the city’s top brokerage for adaptive-reuse and new-construction developments.

“In the final months of 2020, single-family rents posted the highest increases in over four years,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “However, single-family rent price reaction to the pandemic and resulting recession differed greatly across metros.”