By Stephanie Sims Though home closings dropped in August, stats still show the market may be strengthening. Redfin conducted its Real-Time Demand Pulse, its monthly analysis of customers touring homes and offers being made in 18 markets across the

By Peter Ricci Baby boomer housing needs are a common topic here on Chicago Agent, and for good reason – a recent national survey by Coldwell Banker found that 87 percent of its agents reported having at least one baby

By Peter Ricci The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey for August showed a persistent level of optimism in American consumers for the housing market, despite contrary attitudes for the job market and the greater U.S. economy. Overall, respondents to

The National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Multifamily Production Index increased yet again in the second quarter of 2012, rising to 54 from 51 in the first quarter. A leading measure of builder and developer sentiment on the apartment

By Peter Ricci It was just a couple weeks ago that we looked at the multifamily housing boom and how dense urban environments were not going anywhere, and now, an academic has struck upon a catchy term to better

By Peter Ricci Showing a home is a delicate balancing act, one where dozens of itty bitty components must all be in perfect working order. Of course, it can be easy to overlook a detail or two while planning

By Justin T. Hilley Across the nation, new owner household formation increased 125,000 in Q2 2012 to 74.8 million from the same period a year earlier, according to the Census Bureau. Within that figure, white and black owner households

By Jon Prior A Mitt Romney administration plan for a future housing finance system likely shuns any form of a government guarantee based on the Paul Ryan, R-Wis., pick as candidate for vice president. Ryan, as head of the

By Peter Ricci For months, real estate professionals and trade groups alike have bemoaned the lack of housing-related policies on the presidential campaign trail, and it seems Mitt Romney has taken consideration of those criticisms to heart in devoting

Asking prices on real estate website Trulia rose 2.3 percent year-over-year in the latest Trulia Price Monitor, according to a news release from the website. That increase marks the seventh straight month of asking price increases on Trulia, and

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Realtors is reporting that the median listing time of properties for sale in July was 69 days, a 29.6 percent decline from the 98 days in July 2011. The data represented a

By Peter Ricci Any real estate agent will tell you how valuable the Internet is to any real estate business, but the Web’s value does come with one catch – if all agents are using it, how do you

By Peter Ricci The CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) increased by 3.8 percent in July from a year ago, the highest year-over-year increase for the index in nearly six years, according to the California-based data company. Not since August

By Peter Ricci Construction spending in July was up 9.3 percent from last year in the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. Though construction spending did fall slightly from June by 0.9 percent to

By Peter Ricci Distressed sales accounted for 23 percent of all residential housing sales in the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac’s Q2 2012 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report. That total is up from a 22 percent share in the first quarter

By Peter Ricci Now this is interesting – after a solid month of rising interest rates impacting the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, fixed mortgage rates fell in Freddie Mac’s latest survey; yet, mortgage applications in