Well, 2013 has finally arrived, and it brings with it a housing market that, in the view of every major real estate analysts – from the NAHB, to the Wall Street Journal, to CoreLogic – is on the path to

Like many in the industry, since it’s the end of 2012, industry professionals are making predictions for 2013. We asked local industry experts their thoughts in our last issue of the year, and Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia,

The Agent Snapshot is one of the most popular features on our site, and for good reason! It introduces our readers to the many talented, successful, smart, entertaining, driven and wonderful agents that make the Chicagoland area real estate

Have you ever wondered by chrome seems so common in New England homes? Or why the shiny, shimmering textures of bronze always pop up in Texas dwellings? The NAHB Research Center just combed through 15 years-worth of construction materials

Well, it’s Christmas Eve, the time of mistletoe and yuletide and egg nog. But while visions of sugarplums may be dancing in the heads of most people tonight, we’ll be going to sleep with another, equally potent question on

In an effort to shore up its struggling finances, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that it will be tightening its mortgage standards and policies for certain homebuyers in 2013. The FHA’s finances have been called into question

The multifamily housing market continued its dominant performance in the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Architecture Billings Index, a leading economic indicator of future construction activity that is based on the billings from the nation’s architectural firms. For November, the

There was nothing but good tidings and cheer in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) existing-home sales report for November, which found existing-home sales to have increased 5.9 percent from October to November and 14.5 percent from November 2011.

“Optimism” hasn’t been associated with real estate much in the past few years. Russ Bergeron, CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), the Chicagoland’s multiple listing service, said, “I can’t remember feeling this positive about the prospects for a

Building permits increased 3.6 percent from October to November and 26.8 percent year-over-year in the latest joint study by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Altogether, between single-family and multifamily authorizations, building permits

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, the leading measure of builder confidence for the newly-built, single family home market, rose for the eighth consecutive month in December, hitting its highest mark since April 2006. Rising two

Declining foreclosure activity and strengthening home sales contributed positively to home prices in October, with FNC’s latest Residential Price Index increasing 3.7 percent year-over-year for the month. In addition, the Residential Price Index was up 0.4 percent from September

It’s official: it appears the mortgage interest deduction is now in play when it comes to the fiscal cliff debate. President Barack Obama signaled that the interest deduction may go away unless Republicans agree to increase taxes on higher

According to the Trulia American Dream survey, consumer optimism about homeownership is improving, with one in four consumers feeling more positive about homeownership than they did six months ago, and one in three renters planning to buy a home

By Peter Ricci The American Enterprise Institute strikes again! After being one of the first major research firms to call the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) finances into question, the Institute has published another analysis of the FHA’s books, and

By Peter Ricci Some of the nation’s top homebuilders, including PulteGroup and Lennar Corp., are finding a substantial revenue stream from an unlikely source – mortgage lending. Both builders, reports Bloomberg, have seen sizable returns from their in-house mortgage