Voting is now open for Chicago Agent magazine’s 7th annual Agents’ Choice Awards! Write in who you think should win each category. Agents can vote as many times as they want all the way through Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.

By Stephanie Sims The supply of empty residential lots has fallen to its lowest level in three years – according to MetroStudy and reported by Crain’s, the Chicago area’s recent level of vacant lot inventory ready for new single-family homes,

By Peter Ricci National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose for the fifth consecutive month in September, rising three points and reaching its highest level since June of 2006. A measure of builder confidence in the

By Peter Ricci Existing-home sales continued their positive readings in August, rising 7.8 percent from July  and 9.3 percent from August 2011 as housing inventory continued to stabilize, according to the National Association of

By Natalie Terchek According to Chicago Metro Area Real Estate, the number of Chicago two-bedroom condominiums sold in August was up 36.6 percent from August 2011. 702 condos were sold this month at a median sale price of $258,000,

By Stephanie Sims Chicagoland area home sales in August were up 28.5 percent from last year to 9,240 sales, and median price is up more than 20 percent from January 2012, according to the latest stats from the Illinois

Privately-owned housing starts rose in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000, a 2.3 percent increase from July and 29.1 percent increase from August 2011, according to the newest stats from the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition,

By Carlo Calma Remnants of the Frances Cabrini Rowhouses in the city’s Near North Side on Hudson Ave. face an uncertain future, according to an article published in the Chicago Journal. Under the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) Plan for

By Carlo Calma Chicago-based real estate firm Koenig & Strey Real Living has launched a Veterans to Realtors program, which will provide assistance and support to help interested and qualified veterans become real estate professionals. The program will cover

By Peter Ricci Late last week, the Federal Reserve responded to calls for action with another round of fiscal stimulus, by far its most ambitious

By Peter Ricci Andrea Geller, the Coldwell Banker agent the Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR) has sued for defamation, is planning on “vigorously” fighting the lawsuit, according to an exclusive interview Chicago Agent conducted with Donald Battaglia, Geller’s legal counsel.

The developer of the Ritz-Carlton Residences won its dispute with the Terra Foundation on Friday – according to Crain’s, a judge ruled that Prism Development could bar construction workers from retail and office space in the Michigan Avenue project.

By Peter Ricci The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has eased some of its more stringent condo requirements through August 2014 to better serve the current housing market. Those requirements, some of which generated quite a bit of controversy with

On the heels of our latest cover story on Related Midwest’s venture in re-launching three failed South Loop residential towers, Curbed Chicago is reporting that construction has resumed for their Waterview project on Clark and Wacker. Located on 111

By Peter Ricci A Freddie Mac repurchase plan, which would involve the GSE essentially forcing lenders to buy back toxic mortgages that it once guaranteed, could net the company as much as $3.4 billion, according to new analysis from the

By Peter Ricci A new Trulia study of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan markets has come to a staggering conclusions – owning is cheaper than renting in every major metro market in the U.S. by 45 percent, or, $771