Home sales in March were the best since the housing crash, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Citing a slight increase in housing supply, NAR said that nationwide home sales last month totaled 5.71 million, the highest number since February of 2007. It represents a 4.4 percent increase from February and a 6 percent increase from the previous year.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
There are a lot of factors to weigh when trying to determine which neighborhood is the hottest in the city and Crain's used three metrics to come up with their ranking: sales volume, median price and time to sell.
Based on those rankings, the top neighborhood was Irving Park for single family homes, the Near North Side (a neighborhood that includes the hot River North) for condos and Glendale Heights for suburbs.
Crain's also put together a list of the top five neighborhoods based on the data. In Chicago, single family homes besides Irving Park were Ashburn, Lincoln Square, Bridgeport and North Center. For condos after the Near North side it was West Town, Lincoln Square, the Loop and West Ridge.
Read more at Crain's here.
On the heels of news that Chicago is among the most affordable metros for Millennials, a new survey out from Mayflower indicates that the city is also the fifth hottest location for relocations among the cohort.
The reasons cited for moving to Chicago included jobs, affordable cost of living and many housing options.
Of those moving to the city a large percentage, 41 percent, said they were planning to move to Chicago as a "vacation city", basically a city where they'll be living but do not intend to ultimately settle down in.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
So what's the biggest obstacle to renters who want to make the plunge into home ownership? The latest data suggests it's the down payment.
A new study from Zillow indicated that 70 percent of renters will struggle to secure enough cash for a traditional, conventional 20 percent down payment. This stumbling block is extremely consequential because owning is cheaper than renting in 33 of the nation's largest 35 housing markets.
Locally, Chicago renters also pointed to difficulty securing financing and existing debt as big obstacles to overcome on the home ownership quest.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.