If passed, the immigration bill could lead to $500 billion in home sales, income, and spending within a five-year period, according to NAHREP. The organization also approximates a demand for $233 billion in loan origination fees, broker commission, and consumer spending related to homeownership.  In Illinois, 450,000 residents are estimated to be undocumented, which could lead to roughly 121,500 new home sales if NAHREP is right.

Hispanics make up about 76% of the nation’s illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center, and their desire to own a home is growing. The Mortgage Bankers Association found that there is a steady rise in homeownership among Hispanics who arrived in the U.S. in the 1980s and that by 2020, over half of them will own a home.

Although hopes are high for the immigration bill to pass, with President Obama making it his second term priority as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO, U.S.’s largest labor federation, have come to an agreement, some challenges still remain.

Following the subprime mortgage crisis, lenders have enforced strict standards. In a Bloomberg article, Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at the New-York based bank BNP Paribas explains that banks favor refinancing homes and that they “don’t have much interest in providing credit for home purchases.” In addition, Chicago real estate currently suffers from a lack of inventory with year-to-year listings down 20% from last year, according to realtor.com.

Nevertheless, the potential for the immigration reform to boost the housing market is great. And with plenty of upcoming new construction in Chicago, the continuing recovery is sure to improve housing dynamics in the near future.

By Yuval Degani

The post Immigration Reform to Boost Housing Market appeared first on Dream Town.

Nationally, the Pending Home Sales Index declined 0.4 percent to 104.8 from 105.2 in January, the association says. January’s reading had been the highest since April 2010; that month the index climbed to 110 as buyers raced to take advantage of a soon-to-expire federal tax credit.

Compared to last year, however, the index, a forward looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 8.4 percent in February from 96.6 in the same period in 2012, the association says.

In the Midwest, the index increased 0.4 percent to 103.6 in February, from the previous month, though it’s 13.2 percent higher than February 2012.

The index in the Northeast declined 2.5 percent to 82.8 in February, from the previous month, and remained relatively flat in the West and South.

Residential real estate experts have said a recovery is underway– home sales are up as are median prices. But it seems that growth is being capped by a lack of available homes. The association says an uptick in new home construction is the best way to relieve the shortage. New home construction dropped off during the recession in part to a lack of demand and financing and hasn’t returned to previous levels.

“Housing starts need to rise at least 50 percent from current levels,” Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Yun projects U.S. existing-home sales will increase about 7 percent to 5 million sales this year. The median home price will jump 7 percent as well, even as he forecasts mortgage rates will rise to 4 percent in the fourth quarter.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Inventory an Issue appeared first on Dream Town.

There were 4.98 million sales of completed single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops last month, a 10.2 percent increase from the 4.52 million units sold in February 2012, according to the association.

Nationally, the median existing-home price for all housing types climbed 11.6 percent to $173,600 last month, versus the same period in 2012. The increase was the highest since November 2005 when the year-over-year median price jumped 12.9 percent, the association reported.

It was the 12th consecutive month that U.S. prices increased, matching a streak that last occurred from June 2005 to May 2006, before the economy slowed.

The outlook for the remainder of the year is strong, though a lack of inventory could slow the recovery. Total inventory increased 9.6 percent to 1.94 million existing homes available for sale in February. Based on current sales, that represents only a 4.7 month supply, up from 4.2 months in January, the lowest level since May 2005.

“The only headwinds are limited housing inventory, which varies greatly around the country, and credit conditions that remain too restrictive,” Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, says in a statement.

Another sign of the market’s recovery – the median time homes sat on the market was 74 days in February, down 24 percent from 97 days in the same period last year. One out of three homes sold in February was on the market for less than a month, according to the association.

In the Midwest, year-over-year existing-home sales increased 12.9 percent , while the median price jumped 7.7 percent to $129,900, according to the association.

Home sales and prices also climbed in the Northeast and South.

The West remained the country’s hottest region with a severe lack of inventory causing the year-over-year median price to spike 22.7 percent to $237,700 in February, the association reported.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Marching Along appeared first on Dream Town.

For the third straight month, month-over-month foreclosure filings declined in Illinois in February, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Filings fell 10 percent to 12,671 filings last month, and 5 percent from February 2012.

But the total number of filings still ranked among the highest in the U.S. One in every 417 units had a filing last month. Only Florida (1 in every 282 units) and Nevada (1 in every 320 units) fared worse, according to RealtyTrac.

For the sixth month in a row, Florida led the way with a total of 31,2726 filings, up 6 percent from January and 20 percent from February 2012.

Nationally, there were a total of 154,281 filings in February, a two percent increase from the previous month. Year-over-year filings have declined by 25 percent, a yet another sign that the economy and housing market are improving.

“At a high level the U.S. foreclosure inferno has been effectively contained and should be reduced to a slow burn in the next two years,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

Miami had the highest number of foreclosure filings—1 in every 219 units—among major metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more.

Rounding out the top 10 were six other Florida cities, including Orland (1in 225 units); Tampa (1 in 253 units); and Naples (1 in 318 units). Other cities with high foreclosure rates were Rockford at No. 7 (1 in 291 units) and Chicago (1 in 331 units), according to RealtyTrac.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Illinois Foreclosure Filings Fall appeared first on Dream Town.

In 2006 and 2007, before the economy crashed, all but a small handful of Chicago area homebuyers took out mortgages when buying properties.

And why not? Credit was cheap and easy to obtain.

But that changed after the recession took hold. Mortgages were still cheap but financing was difficult to find. Lenders who were burned when the housing bubble burst had shut off the spigots and tightened lending regulations.

Cash was king when it came to home buying.

Now, the economy is slowly recovering and mortgage rates remain historically low. One could reasonably expect the percentage of buyers who use cash to begin to decline. But not so, says housing research firm Metrostudy.

The percentage of local homebuyers who used greenbacks increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2011, edging only slightly lower in 2012, the firm reports.

In 2006 and 2007 roughly 13 percent of Chicago area buyers used cash.

That percentage jumped to 23.8 in 2008, 27.8 in 2009 and 32.5 in 2010.

By 2011 and 2012, the percentage moved to 36.23 and 36.18 respectively, according to Metrostudy.

If mortgage rates remain low, the number of homebuyers who use credit should begin to rise over the next few years, observers say. It may not ever reach the levels of 2005 when 170,732 local buyers took out a mortgage, if only because lenders are more cautious than they were before the crash.

But loan volume should eventually surpass current levels, especially if the stock market stays on its upward trajectory. With local home values growing slowly if at all in the Chicago area, investors may prefer the stock market over real estate.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported in late February that home loans above $417,000—called jumbo mortgages—are on the rise, again.

The loans, which are too big to be backed by the federal agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, all but disappeared when the credit markets collapsed in 2008.

But Reuters says jumbo loan volume is increasing. It’s nowhere near the pre-recession levels of 2007 when “the industry made $348 billion in jumbo loans.”

Last year, approximately $200 billion of jumbo mortgages were granted – observers predict total volume in 2013 to reach $220 billion, Reuters reports.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Homebuyers Seeing Green appeared first on Dream Town.

A total of 44,337 distressed homes were sold throughout the state last year. More than a third, or 16,449 were short sales, which increased by 53 percent in 2012 from the previous year, according to a report from RealtyTrac Inc.

Sales of homes that were foreclosed upon and were owned by lenders jumped 18.6 percent in Illinois last year, from 2011. Only five other states—Louisiana, Kentucky, Delaware, New Hampshire and Tennessee—saw bigger gains.

More than 1 in 4 Illinois home sales last year involved distressed properties, according to RealtyTrac. Observers predict that rate will decline in the next few years, especially if the economy maintains its slow but steady pace of growth.

In the meantime, distressed sales will continue to make up a large percentage of total sales. On one hand it’s good for the market’s long-term health.

It’s been said the housing market won’t fully recover until the stock of distressed properties is significantly reduced.

Theoretically, the more sales, the quicker this will occur.

But it can be painful in the meantime. Distressed properties typically sell for less than non-distressed properties, exerting downward pressure on prices.

In Illinois, the year-end median price edged up by only 0.7 percent to $139,000 last year, from $138,000 in 2011, according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors.

Nationally, even though distressed sales still account for a large percentage of sales, prices in some markets—mainly across the West but not Illinois—are inching higher. A total of 947,995 distressed U.S. homes were sold last year, a 6 decrease from 2011 and a 11 percent drop from 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

“While distressed properties — whether bank-owned, pre-foreclosure or short sales not in foreclosure — are still selling at a significant discount compared to non-distressed properties, average distressed property prices are increasing in many markets thanks to strong demand and limited inventory,” Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post State’s Distressed Deals Jump in 2012 appeared first on Dream Town.

The National Assn. of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index jumped 9.5 percent to 105.9 last month, from 96.7 in the same period in 2012. The index increased 4.5 percent, from 101.3 in the previous month.

January’s reading was the highest since April 2010 when the index touched 110.9, as buyers scrambled to close deals and take advantage of a federal tax credit.

Excluding that incentive, the index’s previous high was 107.9 in February 2007, before the economy crashed, according to the association.

The association’s index, a forward-looking indicator is based on contract signings, or pending sales of existing homes. It doesn’t reflect closings.

“Over the near term, rising contract activity means higher home sales,” Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement.

However, Yun cautioned that total sales this year are expected to increase less than in 2012, though prices are projected to rise.

“Most areas are drawing down housing inventory, which has shifted the supply/demand balance to sellers in much of the country,” he said.

In the Midwest, the index increased 17.7 percent to 105 in January, from the same period in 2012, and 4.5 percent from December.

The Northeast Pending Home Sales Index climbed 10.5 percent to 84.8 last month, versus January 2012. The year-over-year gains in the South were 11.3 percent.

Only the West saw a downturn with year-over-year pending home sales edging 1.5 percent lower last month, a trend the association blamed on limited inventory.

Yun had said he expects 5 million existing U.S. home sales this year. He predicts prices will increase by 7 percent.

Previously, the association predicted 5.1 million existing-home sales in 2013, and price increases of up to 6 percent.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post U.S. Pending Home Sales on the Rise appeared first on Dream Town.

Nationally, the number of year-over-year foreclosure filings declined in January but the misery continues across Illinois.

There were 150,864 filings, or one in every 869 units in the U.S. last month, a 28 percent decline compared to January 2012, and a 7 percent drop compared to Dec. 2012, according to a report from RealtyTrac Inc.

But Illinois saw a 32 percent spike in foreclosure filings in January, a sign of the local market’s continuing troubles. Across the state one in 375 units had a filing, according to RealtyTrac.

That put Illinois third behind only Florida, one in every 300 units, and Nevada, one in 344. Rounding out the list of top 10 states were Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Washington, California, Indiana and Michigan, where one in every 837 units had a filing, according to RealtyTrac.

The Chicago area also took its lumps. It ranked seventh with one in 293 units having a foreclosure filing, a 22.6 percent increase from December. Although, the rate did decline 6 percent from January 2012, according to RealtyTrac.

Rockford also made the infamous list, ranking fourth with one filing in every 265 units. The worst area for foreclosures was Ocala, Fla.. It had the nation’s highest rate with one in 223 units, followed by Miami (one in 228) and Orlando (one in 241).

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Illinois Foreclosures Among Nation’s Worst appeared first on Dream Town.

It couldn’t be determined how much George Furla paid for the 6,500-square-foot, full-floor residence at 25 E. Superior St.

Furla has listed the unit, which spans the tower’s 50th floor, numerous times over the years. It has 2,000-square-feet of outdoor terrace space, three bedrooms, a state of the art kitchen, walnut floors and private parking, according to the listing from Chezi Rafaeli, of Coldwell Banker Residential.

The Fordham was completed in 2003. Furla acquired the unit a year later. He has produced more than 70 films, mostly action titles such as “88 Minutes” with Al Pacino and last year’s remake of “Conan the Barbarian.”

The good news for Furla is that the downtown condominium market appears to be improving. Sales of existing units increased 31.2 percent last year, to 4,675 units sold, compared to 2011, according to Chicago-based Appraisal Research Counselors.

What’s more, only 1,104 unsold downtown units remain, a sign that the glut may be improving, although challenges still exist as evidenced by one developer who has run out of patience with the market’s glacial pace.

The developer of River North’s Superior at LaSalle project has listed the last 16 unsold units for sale as a portfolio. The asking price is $7.995 million.

All but one of the residences, a mix of one and two bedrooms, are rented, according to the listing from Leo Solarte, of First Western Properties.

The high-rise, located at 150 W. Superior St., was completed in 2006, right as the market was peaking. The condos had floor-to-ceiling windows and larger balconies but could not overcome a declining market.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post Final Cut: Hollywood Producer Relists River North Penthouse appeared first on Dream Town.

Short sales are a good option for some home buyers in part because the properties typically sell for less than non-distressed homes.

But buyers who bid on a short sale better buckle in and steel themselves for a bumpy ride. Yes, the deals can save a little money but often it take months, even a year, to complete – frustrating hurdles involving the lender can feel endless.

Some observers have said the time it takes to complete a short sale is one factor delaying the local housing market’s recovery.

But now the Federal National Mortgage Association is trying to change that in hopes that streamlining the short sale process will prevent foreclosures, help stabilize home prices and give the market a boost.

The government backed entity, better known as Fannie Mae, recently introduced an expanded program its calling “HomePath for Short Sales.”

Once a deal is agreed upon, Fannie Mae under the program will “directly engage with the agent or servicer to address challenges such as valuation disputes, delays by servicers or uncooperative subordinate lien holders,” according to the firm.

In short, Fannie Mae promises to help complete the deals as quickly as possible.

Agents also can use HomePath to receive a recommended list price before the property hits the market. Often in a short sale a buyer and seller will agree upon a price, only to see it rejected by the lender or servicer.

By having Fannie Mae approve the price before the home is listed, that disruption can hopefully be avoided.

A short sale is when the property sells for less than what is owed on the mortgage.

A  government-sponsored enterprise, Fannie Mae doesn’t give loans but it does securitize, or buy mortgages from lenders, thus allowing the lender, in theory anyway, to make more loans and continue pumping liquidity into the market.

“By giving agents a straightforward, transparent way to escalate short sale issues to Fannie Mae, we will close more sales, prevent foreclosures and help neighborhoods continue to recover,” Jay Ryan, vice president for real estate sales at Fannie Mae, said in a statement.

Fannie Mae has already tried to address challenges involving short sales by reducing timelines, expanding eligibility and prohibiting servicers from reducing agent commissions, all of which can delay or squash a short sale.

By Andrew Schroedter

The post New Program Promises to Streamline Short Sales appeared first on Dream Town.