Fannie Mae, the much-beleaguered GSE, is reporting a financial scenario for 2012’s first quarter that stands in stark contrast to past reports – it’s positive. After quarterly losses of $6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2011 and $2.4 billion

Greater stability and sales activity were the big takeaways from the Obama White House’s latest Housing Scorecard, a detailed report on the nation’s housing market. Released in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), the Chicagoland multiple listing service, announced that it has partnered with the DocuSign eSignature solution into its connectMLS platform. DocuSign, the global platform for eSignature, provides a solution that helps agents and brokers complete

Home values increased 0.6 percent from February to March in CoreLogic’s Home Price Index (HPI) for the first time since July 2011. Though prices did decline by 0.6 percent from March 2011 to March 2012, they also rose by

The NAHB’s Improving Markets Index (IMI) held steady at 100 in May, the second month in a row of triple-digit totals for the index. First released last summer, the IMI has grown by wide margins in the months since,

According to the Summer 2012 Merrill Edge Report, many Americans in the mass affluent category are willing to make short-term sacrifices in order to get their finances in better shape. The report, released in April by Bank of America,

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is putting the final finishing touches on its closely watched REO conversion program, according to FHFA official Meg Burns. A plan to sell distressed Fannie Mae properties to investors, who will then rent

In a seller’s market more often defined by low-ball offers and year-long listings, some bidding activity across the Chicagoland area is getting some sellers and agents’ attention. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, some listings in various neighborhoods have

Now that new standards for Illinois brokers and managing brokers have been implemented, both the Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR) and the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR) are planning new programs for their members that capitalize on the new

By: Chelsea Lameira Living in luxury isn’t always the life. Take former Boston Celtics and Miami Heat player and Chicago native Antoine Walker, who played professionally until retiring in 2008. At the height of his wealth, Walker was said

The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, a relatively small amount that nonetheless reduced the unemployment rate, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but homeowner interest remains high in Fannie Mae’s latest National

By Lani Rosales, AGBeat Do you know who your clients are? It seems that today, the type of client you have – one who prefers texting and Facebook vs. one who will only communicate through phone calls – depends

Of the 72,731 listings on the market in all nine Chicagoland counties in 2011, 388 of those listings, or 0.53 percent, were co-ops. Of Cook County’s 39,358 listings, the co-op percentage was higher, with 352, or 0.89 percent. In

Q: Do All Jumbo Loans Require a 20 Percent Down Payment? A: This is a great question that I hear from agents and buyers all the time.  Both are usually shocked (yet excited) to hear YES, there are jumbo loan options

The housing boom temporarily changed many aspects of the real estate industry, and the stature of co-op buildings was one of them. Once a viable alternative to condominiums, co-ops gradually lost their appeal amongst the creative financing options and

The federal conforming loan limit was one of the most highly contentious issues in the tail end of 2011, but based on recent statistics, all that controversy seems to have been for naught. Originally passed in late 2008 to