A new development could soon be coming to the South Loop area that would fill the last large vacant parcel in the downtown area and connect the Loop with Chinatown.
Developer Related Midwest has signed a deal to lead the development of 62 acres of riverfront land south of Roosevelt Road and just east of the Chicago River's South Branch.
The property, a former railyard, has sat vacant for decades. The development could include thousands of residences and serve as an important catalyst for development in the area immediately south and west of the Loop.
Read more at Curbed Chicago here.
Ending years of false starts, the Old Main Post Office, vacant since the 1990s and a potential anchor for development at an important gateway to downtown, has sold.
New York Developer 601W Companies purchased the building from long-time British owner Bill Davies (who sadly passed away suddenly shortly after selling the important Art Deco building).
Taken together with a proposed development on the long-vacant railroad land to the south, this could be the beginning of a huge change in downtown Chicago.
Read more at Curbed Chicago here.
RealtyTrac is out with their report on mortgage activity for the Chicago area and while it shows a decline, the important fact is inside the numbers.
Through the entire first quarter, lenders saw a 16 percent decline from the previous year but purchase loans, the most important indicator of market activity, is actually up 11 percent over the previous year.
Refinancings fell 26 percent, meanwhile.
“After a surprisingly strong 2015, the mortgage refinancing market started running out of steam in the first quarter of 2016, despite lower mortgage interest rates,” said Daren Blomquist, the senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
Read more and check out a nifty chart at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
Home ownership continues to be a mainstay of the American Dream, but it's no secret that there are a variety of tax benefits that make home ownership among the most attractive investments most people can make.
The Chicago Tribune's columnist Benny Kass recently broke down the tax benefits:
• Real estate property taxes are deductible.
• Mortgage interest is deductible.
• Mortgage points are deductible.
He goes into greater detail on each deduction at the Chicago Tribune here.
According to CoreLogic's latest report, the Chicago Metro area is among the top cities for home flippers in the country.
The report analyzes the top 86 metros in the country and found that the median gross profit for property flippers, those that buy a building, fix it up and then re-sell it, is 68.4 percent or $76,000, enough to land the area the number 18 slot.
Memphis, TN took the top spot on the list but had a lower level of profit based on percentage and on gross profit, 55.6 percent and $38,466. It had a larger market share of flippers and a shorter time on the market.
For the full list and more, head over to RealtorMag here.