Real estate broker Kay Wirth of RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest in Crystal Lake has been named the 2012 Illinois Realtor of the Year by the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR). A Realtor for more than 25 years, Wirth is a

The Obama White House yesterday offered details of its mortgage refinancing plan, an initiative first announced during the president’s State of the Union Address, claiming it could save homeowners an average of $3,000 a

Construction spending in the U.S. finished 2011 in a strong way, with December’s $816.4 billion annual rate the highest for spending in four months, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. A 1.5 percent increase from

With a combined 46 years of real estate experience, veterans Susan Swift and Lori Wyatt, previously with Keller Williams, are two new members of Coldwell Banker who will be serving the Chicago market. Wyatt is heading up the Lincoln

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received 2,300 mortgage complaints in the month of December, and 38 percent of them pertained to loan modifications and foreclosures; and according to recent reports, those complaints do not go unanswered. The CFPB has received in

The real estate community can nominate architects, developers and others for the Chicago Association of Realtors “Good Neighbor Awards,” all the way through February. The Good Neighbor Awards help the public appreciate real estate’s role in responsible urban development and

First American Properties is considering the construction of 39 rental apartments in downtown Winnetka. The area had formerly been part of a larger project to build 31 luxury condominium apartments at the site by New Trier Partners. Discussion concerning

Home values continued their downward slide with Tuesday’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the survey of home values by Standard & Poor’s that is considered the definitive voice on home prices. With a monthly decline of 1.3 percent and a yearly fall

Kelly Byrne has joined Koenig & Strey Real Living Real Estate as a broker associate. Byrne, who has been in real estate since 2005, will be working at the Gold Coast office, located at 900 N Michigan Ave in Chicago on

The Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) provision in the Dodd-Frank bill is unquestionably the most controversial aspect of the legislation’s housing-related rulings, and since the start of 2012, eyes have been fixed on the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency

Each year, the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) Board of Managers elects officers from among their ranks to guide the company through the upcoming year. This year’s officers were recently announced, and bring an immeasurable level of experience to

The Census Bureau released its latest numbers on housing vacancies yesterday for the fourth quarter, and the results were in-tune with the more recent trends in housing – a 9.4 percent vacancy rate for rentals and a 2.3 percent

Zachary Knebel, Kelly Fondow and Patti Sprafila Wagner are the new Realtors who will be serving  buyers and sellers throughout the Oak Park area, announced Weichert, Realtors on Monday. “It’s rewarding to learn not only that the real estate

Following the long-delayed appointment of Director Richard Cordray, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has hit the ground running in 2012, launching investigations into PHH Corp and releasing new subprime loan metrics for lenders. Now, it’s setting its sights on

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced new rules and regulations to protect the housing rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality. Shaun Donovan, the secretary of

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released its latest Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices today, showing that home prices fell again from October to November and posted new post-housing bubble lows for home values. Both the 10- and 20-City Composites fell by