The Appraisal Institute (AI) ruffled many feathers last week by taking a “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” stance in regards to recent controversies in home valuations, but recent reports suggest that the institute may be amending its stance on how its

Housing was largely absent from President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address, but he did mention a potentially game-changing proposal – a mass refinancing plan for homeowners that are current on their mortgages that, according to the President, could save

Curbed reported that Skyscraper Page forum has posted a rendering of the latest proposal for a new university housing project for the Loop. The new rental building is aimed at students, faculty and staff in the downtown area, and

After reaching a 19-month high in November, the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index declined by 3.5 percent in December, though it did retain the year-over-year gains that defined much of housing data in 2011. A

Quite a bit has been written about the reactionary lending policies that private mortgage originators began following after the market collapse in 2008, and the common narrative has been that such credit restrictions negatively impact housing. We cover lending

Membership in the National Association of Realtors (NAR) declined for the third straight month in December, closing out a 2011 that marks the fifth straight year of annual declines for the influential association. According to the latest data from

The President’s State of the Union speech is set for tonight, and among the many economic, political and social issues he is sure to address, many are speculating if one of the more lingering debates in housing will finally

Housing inventories finished 2011 down by 22.3 percent, with 1.89 million homes on the market at the end of December, the lowest inventory in the last four years. Though low inventories would appear to be a good sign for

Newman Realty announced on Friday that Lauren Mitrick, known for making Forbes list of “30 under 30” in real estate, as its newest agent. Mitrick is also recognized for being the youngest president to serve for the Chicago Women’s

Social media has become a vital component in the marketing strategy employed by today’s real estate professionals. Many have incorporated vehicles such as Facebook and Twitter into their daily business practices. In response to the explosion in social networking,

Every so often, a piece of information comes around to show that the U.S. housing market, despite some challenging trends, is by no means entirely on shaky ground, and recent data on foreign buyers would seem to suggest such

Home sales in Illinois were up by 14 percent year-over-year in December, a result of a mild winter, record-low interest rates and the most affordable housing market in 40 years, according to new data from the Illinois Association of

The city of Chicago experienced a mini-triumph on Thursday when a federal judge ruled against an early filing by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in its lawsuit with the city over its vacant housing ordinance, according to a

Acting Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Carol J. Galante recently announced additional steps in a series to protect and strengthen the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.  The FHA hopes to limit risk and continue to enable the agency to

It’s no mystery that home prices are low. CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index fell from October to November, and prices have fallen by an average of 32.8 percent from their 2006 peak. What has not followed suit, though, are

It appears Realtors were a very good bunch this year, as Santa delivered some promising existing-home sales data in December. Sales for existing-homes rose by 5 percent from November to December, reaching an adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million.