By Justin T. Hilley Market concern over the strength of the economic recovery took Treasury yields to new depths, causing both 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages to continue tumbling to historic lows. The Freddie Mac survey showed 30-year FRM

By Joel Kotkin While the economy has been miserable for small businesses, and many larger ones as well, the ranks of the self-employed have been growing. According to research by Economic Modeling Specialists International, the number of people who

Of the total number of active agents in the Chicagoland area, 66 percent work in large offices, or offices with 20-plus people, compared to the 8 percent that work in offices of one or two people and the 13

By AGBeat Recently, AG columnist Erica Ramus published an editorial entitled, “Realtor Party? Count Me Out,” which stirred passionate support from Realtors across the nation while simultaneously drumming up disagreement from local boards, state associations and the National Association

By Carlo Calma Chicago-based development company Related Midwest, an affiliate of the New York-based Related Companies, has announced that former @properties broker David Wolf has been named president of Related Midwest Sales, according to a Crain’s report. First up

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Home Builders’ Builder Confidence Index hit its highest mark in five years in July, and based on second quarter home order stats from the nation’s largest builders, the source of such confidence

By Carlo Calma Downers Grove-based Realtor organization Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe) has awarded Libertyville Realtor De Shaun Cox with its Community Service Award, according to a July 26 press release. Cox was nominated for the award by her

By Carlo Calma Thaddeus Wong and Michael Golden, co-founders of Chicago real estate brokerage @properties, has named Kevin Van Eck to the role of director of agent development in a press release. Van Eck will step up to his

Zillow took another step in its industry outreach efforts yesterday with the announcement of zPro for Brokers, a beta program that incentivizes brokerages to directly partner with the syndication site. Operating on a five-point program, zPro currently boasts 15

  HousingWire reported today that refinance activity has hit a three-year high, and mortgage applications increased 2 percent from last week, the highest levels since April of 2009. When Facebook founder and one of the world’s wealthiest people, Mark

By Peter Ricci Pending home sales rose year-over-year for the 14th consecutive month in June, according to the latest Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors. A forward-looking index based on contract signings, the Pending Home Sales

By Ian McKendry The official website of the National Association of Realtors, Realtors.com is undergoing a gradual makeover aimed at making the website easier to use and more aesthetically

By Peter Ricci New residential single-family home sales were up 15.1 percent in June year-over-year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase comes a week after existing-home sales rose 7.9 percent from the year

By Peter Ricci Every week, it seems new analysts and business firms jump on the housing recovery bandwagon, calling the bottom for the embattled industry and looking forward to a brighter future. As housing moves forward, though, there are

By Carlo Calma As part of its continued efforts to expand in the metropolitan Chicago real estate market, RE/MAX Northern Illinois has announced its intention of establishing a new franchise in Lake Forest according to a press release. The

If you can’t buy it, rent it. That might be an appropriate slogan for recent proposed ordinance in Chicago that aims to put renters in buildings going through foreclosure. Chicago aldermen are expected to introduce an ordinance today that