According to LeapRE, the top 10 brokerages in terms of business volume haven’t seen very many changes from 2010 to 2011 – but there have been a few shake-ups that occurred during the first six months of 2011. Koenig

Q: How have agent review sites, social media and/or real estate forums impacted the real estate industry? A: Whether as a mortgage banker or real estate consultant, our clients have always given “reviews” of our performance in the forms

There appear to be signs of life in the West Loop, Hyde Park and even Cabrini Green. The Architects Newspaper reports that three new construction projects are hoping to break ground soon in all three

Developer William Senne faces a $6.4-million lawsuit over a business loan backed by 11 of his properties. First Midwest Bank N.A. filed a foreclosure lawsuit last month against a venture managed by Senne. First Midwest Bank N.A. is alleging

America’s real estate market could be on an “unsustainable path,” faced with an oversupply of homes inaccessible to either renters or buyers. That’s what three Morgan Stanley analysts argue in a recent paper that outlines steps that can be

Fall and the back-to-school season is often characterized by parents and students getting last-minute school supplies, books and, for college-bound students, all the dorm necessities. However, this year, parents with college-age students may consider a different kind of bac-

Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) recently downgraded Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ because it’s linked to the long-term debt of the U.S. S&P previously downgraded the U.S.’s credit rating to AA+ as

This year’s Illinois Association of Realtors second quarter report shows home sales are down 18 percent from last year and the median home price of $142,000 is also down 11.3 percent from $160,000 in the second quarter of 2010.

Freddie Mac reported $27 million in expenses for maintaining and reselling REOs in the second quarter, as opposed to the $257 million reported for the previous

The seasonally adjusted rate of new home sales in the Chicago area fell in the second quarter. Down 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Crain’s, experts don’t predict to see much change in housing trends until

Despite the nation’s credit downgrade, the Federal Housing Finance Agency assured investors that securities issued by the Treasury and other government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) are still

A recently passed ordinance, which includes the bank who lends the property owner the mortgage, or the mortgagee, as a property owner and responsible for upkeep on abandoned properties, is being argued by many for its violation of the

After losing $8.7 billion in the first quarter, Fannie Mae has reported a loss of $5.2 billion in the second quarter. Fannie Mae still owes the Treasury $104.8 billion, but now the Federal Housing Finance Agency is requesting another

Interest in renting a home has increased dramatically and brokers need to be up to date on prices and availabilities of properties near them. RentJuice.com has a database of more than 15,000 rental properties in the Chicago land area

Late last month Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.’s Town & Country Homes Inc. acquired a batch of distressed residential lots in a North Aurora subdivision. This is the home builder’s fourth Chicago-area acquisition in the past six

Earlier this year, CIVIX-DDI, LLC sued Realtor.com and subsequently the Multiple Listing Services by way of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The suit with Realtor.com named CIVIX’s patent on ““systems and methods for remotely accessing a selected group