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.

Freddie Mac released 2012’s first U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook this week, and amidst analysis of the job market and consumer confidence, the GSE’s Chief Economist, Frank Nothaft, painted a nuanced portrait of housing, one that, despite some tough

Ever since the Federal Reserve outlined a potential bulk REO sales program, and especially after it was announced early last week that the government was in negotiations with private property management firms for such transactions, speculation has abounded on

Ameristar Mortgage Company announced that it has joined with national lending company, Guaranteed Rate, Inc. Ameristar brings 23 years of experience to Guaranteed Rate, serving thousands of clients in its Brookfield, Wisc., community, with its primary focus in residential

The latest Residential Price Index (RPI) from research firm FNC was released yesterday for the month of November, and as expected, it reported that home prices are still in a sensitive spot with foreclosures and seriously delinquent mortgages still relatively common

The latest residential construction statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for December 2011 show privately-owned housing starts posting a big year-over-year increase, rising by nearly 25 percent from December 2010 at an