Housing starts are among the most influential collections of data in the world of real estate, but a Washington Post blog has laid bare some troubling flaws with the data’s collection. Here are the five most notable inconsistencies with the

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced earlier this week its purchase of 437 N Rush, a two-story building that borders the west side of the association’s Chicago headquarters off Michigan Avenue. NAR will now own the entire block

Appraisals – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. A topic we have covered numerous times, appraisals have been a consistent source of headaches for agents in the post-boom market, with contract failures a common result of the

The National Association of Realtors announced this week the merger of its Realtors Federal Credit Union (FCU) with the Northwest Federal Credit Union. The end result of a nine-month inquiry by Bob Goldberg, the senior vice president for sales, marketing,

The housing recovery continued rolling along this morning, with the Commerce Department reporting that new home sales rose 28 percent in the Midwest in April. Nationally, sales rose 3.3 percent from March to April, and 9.9 percent from April

We all know that cities must continue growing to remain relevant, but at what cost? A land sale along South Shore Drive is engaging that very argument. A three-plot land sale just north of 77th Street, the 2/3 acre-sale

April home sales in Chicago were up nearly 20 percent from last year, and the state of Illinois was not far behind with a yearly increase of 15.7 percent. According to the latest data from IAR, prices were similarly

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 1.0 percent from March to April, according to the latest data from NAR, with a yearly increase of 14.4 percent. Nationally, sales were similarly strong, rising 3.4 percent from March and 10.0 percent

RE/MAX  surveyed 1,022 of its residential experts in its quarterly RE/MAX Market Insights, and it found numerous signs of a market recovery in real estate, from pricing data to sales activity. Here’s what we thought were six important takeaways from

Judicial and nonjudicial states have radically different approaches to foreclosure proceedings, and they may produce different recoveries in the appropriate states. Currently, few analysts argue that a housing recovery is not happening; debate still persists, though, on the particulars –

As the housing market progressively recovers in 2012, more and more analysts are noting the shift in consumer demand from single-family to multifamily units. The latest (and most detailed) example is “The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand,” a

Q. The Lending Process Has Become Extremely Detailed.  As an Agent, How Can I Better Serve my Client to Make the Loan Process Smoother? A. As a VP of mortgage lending, the goal when turning in a file is to

By Peter Ricci In tune with campaign season, President Obama is stepping up his populist rhetoric to drum up support for his home refinancing plan. Originally announced in January during his State of the Union address, the plan would

By Peter Ricci Builder confidence is one of the main areas of focus for real estate, and it will be particularly interesting how builders in Illinois react to a series of environmentally-conscious regulations currently working their way through the

Homebuilder confidence in the market for new single-family homes reached its highest level since 2007, according to the Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. At 29, the level is five points higher than last month’s downwardly revised

By Peter Ricci After a few difficult years, the income and business of Realtors grew in 2011, according to the 2012 National Association of Realtors Member Profile. A survey of 58,823 NAR members that yielded 6,245 usable responses, the