There is little doubt that Chicago is in the midst of a building boom. Neighborhoods across the city are seeing renewed interest in apartments as the city loosens zoning requirements for parking under its Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) ordinance and tourism boosters have caused a resultant boom in hotel rooms.
But today Curbed has a tour of some of the active construction sites in downtown Chicago and the neighborhoods. From McCormick Place to the South Loop, to the Loop and more.
Check it all out here.
It might not sound like good news but according to the latest numbers, institutional investors, defined as those who purchase at least 10 pieces of real estate in a calendar year, are leaving the market.
Check it all out here.
It might not sound like good news but according to the latest numbers, institutional investors, defined as those who purchase at least 10 pieces of real estate in a calendar year, are leaving the market.
In the first quarter of 2015, those investors accounted for 3.4 percent of all single-family home sales, down 2.8 percentage points from the previous year. The total number of houses purchased by investors was 14,600 in the first three months of the year. That's the lowest level in four years.
While it sounds like that means decreased demand, what it actually means is a bit of decreased competition from cash purchasers. Many first time home buyers have been frustrated by the prevalence of cash offers in the market and now they may have a better opportunity at snagging that coveted house.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
The latest numbers are in and the top-selling neighborhood in the city for the month of June was the Near North Side, with 351 total sales.
Following were West Town with 239 total sales and Lincoln Park with 193 total sales.
As usual, when condo sales are removed from the mix, the leaders shuffle. The most single family homes sold last month were in Norwood Park with 57 total sales.
Ashburn followed with 53 sales and Portage Park with 46. The only community from the top three that showed up on both lists was West Town - 32 single family homes were sold in that community in June.
For more, head over to Chicago Agent Magazine here.
The latest report on Chicago's top-selling suburbs has a few surprises in it.
While the usual top-sellers, Naperville, Aurora and Plainfield remained in the top spot in June with 328, 283 and 191 sales respectively, Naperville took first place for the first time this year.
Naperville secured the top slot over Aurora due to its 33.3 percent increase in sales from the previous month.
One of the notable parts of the report was the sales uptick in Evanston. When attached single family dwellings are added, Naperville still held the top spot with 82 sales, but Evanston was right behind with 81 sales. It saw an increase in sales from the previous month of a whopping 55.8 percent.
For more, head over to Chicago Agent Magazine here.
The report out from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows that while Chicago is sluggish compared to other cities, home prices continue to rise.
The price growth in the report was 2.2 percent on the year but the monthly increase was stronger, the 1.3 percent monthly increase was just behind the nation's leader, Boston, at 1.5 percent.
While the growing market is a good sign for all the sectors that depend on the health of housing, it puts further strain on first-time buyers.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.