Getting Real

Chicago Foreclosure Activity Declining Again

RealtyTrac released their April Foreclosure Market Report yesterday and it shows a continued decline in activity for the nation as a whole. Foreclosure activity in Chicago continues in a general decline for the third month in a row after trending upwards for 6 months. Declines were experienced across the board in default notices, bank repossessions... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
May 18, 2012 at 7:09 am

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Maybe Chicago Rents Really Are Skyrocketing

I don’t have a lot of first hand knowledge of the Chicago rental market because I pretty much focus on home sales and purchases. However, from what I do know about the rental market it sure looks like the Chicago market is hot – for landlords. First there’s the data. There have been many articles... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
May 15, 2012 at 6:33 am

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Chicago Home Inventory Continues To Plunge To New Lows

If you’ve been trying to buy a home in Chicago lately you know it’s not easy. There’s not a lot to choose from and as soon as something hits the market with a reasonable price it’s gone. You’re not imagining it and I’m not making this up. I have the data to prove it. We... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
May 8, 2012 at 4:38 pm

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Chicago Housing Market: Further Signs Of Strengthening In April

Here’s what the Illinois Association of Realtors is going to tell you in about 2 weeks: April sales were really strong compared to last year, with median prices up and distressed sales down as a percent of the total sales. Of course, I don’t pay much attention to median prices because it is NOT an... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
May 7, 2012 at 6:37 am

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Another New Low In Chicago Housing Prices

Oh, the humanity! The Case Shiller home price index just came out for Chicago for the month of February and it’s more bad news for sellers (but good news for buyers). Single family home prices dropped by another 2.6% while condo prices fell by another 2.4%. Chicago was one of 9 cities where home prices... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
April 24, 2012 at 8:41 am

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RealtyTrac's March Foreclosure Report: Chicago Static

RealtyTrac’s March Foreclosure Report just came out and it shows fairly static foreclosure activity for Chicago in March vs. February. It’s hard to tell from the graph below but bank repossessions were actually down a bit, offset by increases in default notices and auctions. The foreclosure report focuses on the first quarter and at the... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
April 12, 2012 at 9:16 am

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Maybe The Chicago Housing Market Isn't So Fragile After All

Yesterday I posted on the Treasury Department report on the Chicago housing market which characterized the market as “fragile”. However, that report seemed to focus on the hardest hit parts of this market and the most distressed homeowners. It makes sense, given their agenda. However, now that I’ve pulled the March transaction activity for Chicago... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
April 9, 2012 at 6:30 am

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Treasury Department Spotlight On Chicago Housing Market

On Friday the Treasury Department came out with their March Housing Scorecard with a Spotlight on the Chicago Housing Market for 14 area counties in 3 states. The headline of the report is that the Chicago housing market is more challenged than the nation as a whole and, while it showing some signs of recovery... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
April 8, 2012 at 11:17 am

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Chicago Home Prices Hit Lowest Level In 11 Years

It was all but certain that today’s release of the January Case Shiller home price index for Chicago was going to show continued declines and hit a new record low. And now that we have the numbers we can see just how bad it is – for sellers. With an additional 1.9% decline for single... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
March 27, 2012 at 8:59 am

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How The Chicago Housing Market Really Did In February

As expected the originally reported February home sale numbers for Chicago were wrong. After I contacted the Illinois Association of Realtors they discovered that the original data they received from the Chicago MLS only included 28 days. That damn earth orbit just complicates everything! This actually makes a comparison with February of last year rather... Read more »

By Gary Lucido,
March 23, 2012 at 7:32 am

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