A 200-unit transit-oriented development plan is inching forward in one of Chicago's hottest neighborhoods.
Developers Centrum Partners have proposed a plan, which would be dividied into "family-friendly" townhouses, apartments and condos near the CTA Blue Line's Division "L" stop.
The plan could also feature a private school and generous green space. A public meeting on the project is planned for tomorrow.
Read more about the project at DNAinfo here.
The latest report from the U.S. Labor Department reveals some good news for housing.
First, construction employment saw a 4.5 percent job growth thanks to new demand for new homes. Sales of new homes have risen a total of 63.75 percent since 2011 even as the prices have risen.
And wages are also on the upswing. According to the report, wages rose a half a percentage point and the work week has grown, indicating an increase in hourly employment.
On the downside, rents and prices are increasing faster than wages, basically swallowing those gains for employees.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
With the improving economy of the last several years, TransUnion is predicting more good news; approximately 2.2 million "boomerang buyers", so named because they were owners that left the market following the downturn, could return to the market over the next five years.
Such an up-tick in buyers would further improve the housing market. TransUnion found that while 8 percent of mortgage holders were affected by the downturn, only 18 percent of them had returned to the market as of December 2014.
As delinquency durations expire, that remaining 82 percent could be coming back in force.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
The latest report from Crain's Chicago Business is predicting that rents will inch up in the Chicago area in 2016 by 1 to 2 percent, even as a record number of new apartments come online downtown.
Developers will complete 4,000 apartments downtown this year and nearly 5,000 next year, a record level and a nearly 28 percent increase in the total supply, according to Appraisal Research Counselors.
Though the increase is far above the usual absorbtion rate, the overall occupancy rate ticked up in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 93.5 percent from 93.6 percent the prior year. The absorbtion rate, or the demand increase that fills apartments downtown, was 2,295, up from 2,247 the previous year.
Even as the demand increases, the record number of units being built could ultimately affect rents by testing overall demand.
Read more at Crain's Chicago here.
Chicago has been ranked as one of the top metro areas for new multifamily and commercial construction for 2015, according to a Dodge Data & Analytics report.
The metro area saw $5.9 billion in housing starts last year, behind Miami with $6.3 billion, Dallas-Ft. Worth with $6 billion and tied with Washington, D.C. New construction was up in the city by 14 percent, commercial projects were up 13 percent and multifamily projects were up 17 percent.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.