An inside look at Chicago real estate
By Dream Town
This week, Mayor Daley revealed a new incentive that will award a limited number of home buyers with $10,000 grants to put towards purchasing homes in several Plan for Transformation developments around the city. The developments are a project of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) that will replace old high-rises…
By Dream Town
A new website was created by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to provide information and address questions about the new federal tax credit available to first-time home buyers through June, 2009. Within the first couple days of its launch, www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com received an estimated 36,000+ visitors. The outpouring of…
By Dream Town
June proved to be a good selling month for Chicago area real estate – sales for existing detached single-family residences and attached properties (condos, townhouses, loft, etc.) were up over 10 percent from May. The number of homes sold in Chicago and nearby suburbs in May was 6,929. June saw…
By Dream Town
It’s the “go ahead” American homeowners have been waiting for since before the Fourth of July holiday, when word of the mammoth “foreclosure rescue” legislation was bouncing around Washington with a White House veto threatening to terminate the whole thing. This Wednesday President Bush, despite his previous promises to veto…
By Dream Town
It is anticipated that the new federal legislation working its way through Capitol Hill would help some 400,000 homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure. Assistance is offered to those who have a home loan debt-to-income ratio greater than 31% and are not able to pay their mortgage. The relief…
By Dream Town
The U.S. real estate market continues to struggle with falling prices and home sales in every part of the country. The negative news reports make is hard to believe there are actually pockets where property values are holding steady, but we have to remember this is a localized industry. Chicago…
By Dream Town
For many potential home buyers, the sense of urgency to purchase is quelled by low interest rates and surplus supply of residential real estate. Instead of acting now, buyers are hanging out on the sidelines to see just how far prices will drop. But a recent article in Realty Times…
By Dream Town
The media tends to speak in terms of national numbers and regional trends when it comes to real estate news. Unfortunately, such broad interpretations of the housing market can grossly underestimate how well specific areas are doing — such as our hometown of Chicago, which has seen home price increases…
By Dream Town
The first week of April reveals a positive sign for the U.S. housing market as mortgage requests increased over five percent from the previous week. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the home loan application volume has improved since the end of March, jumping a seasonally adjusted 5.4% (unadjusted…
By Dream Town
The chief economist for the National Association of Realtors says the U.S. is moving towards an improvement in home sales this year however we shouldn’t expect to see any changes for another few months. The NAR forecasts a stabilization of existing home sales during the first two quarters of 2008,…
By Dream Town
The latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that February home sales for existing properties rose from the previous month by 2.9% countrywide. It is the first time we’ve seen a sales boost since July of 2007 and it’s the biggest increase in a year. The slight…
By Dream Town
A new construction condominium development in United Center Park is offering Chicago home buyers a rare rent-to-own option that gives purchasers time to save up for a down payment while living in their new home. The rent-to-own deal is offered through Dream Town Realty (details are available by contacting Ken…