Mortgage lending has returned to its pre-bubble requirements, and some homebuyers are unable to meet private banks’ standards for income, credit scores and other financial factors. We’ve covered on numerous occasions the ascent of Federal Housing Administration loans in

First it was the 2011-2012 federal budget; then the Super Committee, and its potential $1 trillion deficit-cutting measures; now, it’s the payroll tax cut extension, and though all the previous moments of fiscal gridlock in Washington only mentioned housing

A Chicago ordinance requiring banks to maintain vacant properties has been met with resistance by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which has filed a lawsuit against Chicago to prevent the ordinance’s enforcement, according to HousingWire. Originally passed in

It’s one of the most common complaints among Realtors, builders and analysts – tight lending from private banks has not only restricted potential homebuyer’s access to credit, but has been one of the leading contributors to the housing downturn

One out of every 10 homes in Chicago is vacant, and with additional foreclosures expected in 2012, several non-profits in the Chicagoland area are approaching the vacancy pickle in ways that anticipate pending programs from the federal government. Reported

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) has announced that the greatly anticipated new version of its public records solution, Realist® NextGen, will be going live overnight

At the close of the summer, appraisals were a hot topic, with builders and Realtors alike criticizing the shoddy documentation and lackluster criteria that often defined the appraisal experience. Though news about government assistance and foreclosures quickly overtook appraisals,

For most of 2011, housing has been on a sideways path, neither faltering nor rising above the sleepy market that took over after the immediate losses following 2007. A new piece by CNBC’s Albert Bozzo, though, suggests that 2012

As if the Chicago apartment scene was not already busy enough, Chicago Real Estate Daily’s Alby Gallun reports that three huge deals have transpired in the final month of 2011, putting the finishing touches on what could be the

New legislation introduced in the Senate yesterday would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on a 10-year timeline, liquidating the two GSEs and turning its components over to the private sector. According to a HousingWire report, the Mortgage Finance

The Schweppe mansion in Lake Forest is on the market for $12 million after a foreclosure lawsuit, according to a recent Crain’s article by Mary E. Morrison. The 27-room English-style mansion has been listed by an affiliate of First

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has zeroed in on the secondary mortgage market, calling for reforms to what it sees as a major contributor to a sustained housing recovery. In testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the White House’s latest Housing Scorecard, a cumulative report that assesses a wide number of factors in the housing market. Like most

Typically, income and credit scores are main factors in determining mortgage rates, but a new study from the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics suggests that gender plays a substantial role. Brought to light by an AOL Real Estate

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has just announced the addition of industry veteran Dana Pierson-Emering to their team. Emering will work out of the brokerage’s Deerfield

We all saw the headlines; CoreLogic’s Home Price Index (HPI) fell 1.3 percent from September to October and 3.9 percent from last year, while LPS reported a 1.2 percent drop from August and the Case-Shiller, the granddaddy of them