By Peter Ricci As a sales-based industry, real estate depends on clients, and as sales personnel, real estate agents benefit when they have a solid grasp of who those clients are and why they are interested in what they are

By Peter Ricci Privately-owned housing starts in October rose 3.6 percent from September to an annual rate of 894,000, which is the highest rate since July 2008, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. That total was

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service, has reported that the October 2012 Supply of Inventory (MSI) was down to 4.3 months, while the number of properties under contract had skyrocketed to 10,364. The MSI figure is the

If you sit open houses, you know that it can be a great opportunity to showcase your property, network and meet potential buyers. But how do you gather REAL contact

By Peter Ricci Home sales in the city of Chicago increased by stratospheric amounts in October, posting a 53.1 percent increase year-over-year with a median sale price jump of 8.0 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Illinois Association

By Peter Ricci Existing-home sales rose 2.1 percent in October, according to the National Association of Realtors latest market report. Housing inventory, though, declined again in October, adding further pressure to home

By Peter Ricci The U.S. mortgage markets and the housing market on the whole showed continued improvement in the latest Mortgage Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which studied delinquency and foreclosure rates across the country for

How many listings are co-listed? The answer is 17.39 percent of all for-sale, non-commercial, non-land listings that have closed since Jan. 1st, 2011. LeapRE looked at what price bracket has the highest percentage of co-listed listings, and found that

If you’re on Pinterest and not yet overwhelmed by all the “pins” and “repinning” and just how many categories you can pin ideas to, congratulations, because as an agent, Pinterest is a site that can help you not only

By Kerri Ann Panchuk Rising home prices lifted more than 1.3 million underwater homeowners above water this year, the Obama Administration said in its October Housing Scorecard report. The latest report shows more signs of a strengthening housing market,

By Lani Rosales, AGBeat This month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) REach, the new real estate technology incubator which seeks companies at all stages of growth, noted that the accelerator program “will be particularly useful to those just

By Peter Ricci Once a year, in the last gasps of the autumn season, Christmas comes early for the residential real estate markets – the National Association of Realtors (NAR) releases its yearly Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers; and

By Natalie Terchek Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group released a new edition of its Housing Insights survey that examines how the recession affected homeownership and rental markets. Interestingly, even with rents rising, homeownership rates are on a

By Peter Ricci There have been many unfortunate side effects to the housing downturn, but for homebuyers and agents who have been able to capitalize, there has been one decided benefit – heavily discounted REO properties, with price reductions

By Peter Ricci Unless you’ve been living in severe isolation the last couple months, you know all about the so-called “Fiscal Cliff,” the rather dramatic name that the media has given to the latest round of budgetary disputes facing

By Peter Ricci In case you missed it, Freddie Mac announced what has by now become common in real estate – mortgage interest rates hit new record lows last week, with the 30-year FRM falling to 3.34 percent and