From the Chicago Sun-Times | Christopher Kennedy, president of the Chicago Merchandise Mart, said Thursday the massive art-Deco office building on the Chicago River is not for sale, contradicting a report last week in Crain’s Chicago Business. Get the full story >>
Filed under: Real estate
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30-year mortgage rates rise slightly
Mortgage rates mostly edged up last week as investors’ fears about the economy eased.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 4.35 percent, up from 4.32 percent the week before. It was only the second rise in 12 weeks. Last week’s was the lowest number since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. Get the full story »
Sep. 8, 2010 at 1:52 p.m.
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Filed under: Construction, Development, Litigation, Real estate Another setback for Chicago Spire
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The Chicago Spire was dealt another setback Wednesday when a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit by developer Garrett Kelleher seeking to avoid repayment of two loans.
General Growth leadership to stay on a year
The leaders of General Growth Properties Inc. will stay on for up to one year following completion of the company’s restructuring, which is expected in October, the company said Tuesday.
Chief Executive Officer Adam Metz and President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Nolan have agreed to remain in their roles to oversee General Growth’s emergence from the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history. Get the full story »
Sep. 7, 2010 at 10:44 a.m.
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Filed under: Commercial real estate, Housing, Mortgages, Real estate Chicago Luxury Home Tour canceled
There will be no seventh annual Chicago Luxury Home Tour this fall.
Greenspring Media Group, the Midwest Home magazine offshoot that organized the annual event, is mothballing the tour for a year because it couldn’t secure enough high-end new homes to make it worth consumers’ while. Get the full story »
Sep. 4, 2010 at 7:38 p.m.
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Filed under: Commercial real estate, Conventions, Real estate Report: Merchandise Mart for sale
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Vornado Realty Trust has been shopping Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, the massive 3.5-million-square-foot office building along the Chicago River, attracting one $1.25 billion bid that never materialized into a deal. Vornado is reportedly still seeking offers on the building which was once owned by the Kennedy family. Get the full story>>
Jamie Dimon slashes price on Gold Coast mansion
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has slashed the asking price of his 18-room Gold Coast mansion from $9.5 million all the way down to $6.95 million.
The Tribune has learned that the eight-bedroom, 13,500-square-foot mansion now is listed for slightly more than half of Dimon’s original $13.5 million asking price for the home in 2007. Now based in New York, Dimon, 54, paid $4.68 million for the mansion in 2000. Get the full story »
Mortgage rates hit another low; now at 4.32%
A woman fills out a form to receive more information after touring a new home for sale in St. Louis, Aug. 25, 2010. Mortgage rates continue to drop. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
U.S. mortgage rates fell in the past week to the latest in a series of record lows as yields on government debt dropped, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.
Rock-bottom rates offer a glimmer of hope for a housing market that has failed to find footing in the aftermath of the expiration of popular home buyer tax credits.
Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 4.32 percent for the week ended September 2, down from the previous week’s 4.36 percent and its year-ago level of 5.08 percent, according to the survey. Get the full story »
Sears drops offensive mousepad from online store
From CBS2 Chicago | Mousepads with controversial messages like “My kid had sex with your honor student” do not fall outside the guidelines of Sears’ online marketplace, but the company is pulling them anyway after complaints from at least one shopper.
Chicago home prices up 2.5% in June
Home prices in the Chicago area rose for the third straight month in June, raising them up to a level equivalent with a year ago, new data released Tuesday shows.
While Chicago’s one-month price gains were greater than many of the cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, national economic trends are likely to temper future home price appreciation, economists said.
“It’s a mixed bag,” said Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, “Corporate profits are still strong, inventories are low and that’s supposed to be a positive indicator. But confidence is a major driver of the economy. What really bothers me is the very high level of long-term unemployment.” Get the full story »
Aug. 27, 2010 at 11:07 a.m.
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Filed under: Bank failures, Banking, Investing, Real estate New Atlanta-based company rises from Corus Bank
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle | A new Atlanta-based real estate company will market the assets and loans from Chicago’s failed Corus Bank.
1 in 10 Illinois mortgage holders missed payments‎
Almost one in 10 of Illinois’ 1.7 million home mortgage loans were at least 30 days past due in the second quarter, a troubling sign that might spell more foreclosures in the future, according to new data released Thursday. Get the full story »
Willborn race-bias case heads to Justice Dept.
George Wilborn at the Dirksen court house this morning. (William DeShazer/Tribune)
The U.S. Justice Department is taking over the case of Chicago radio personality George Willborn, who allegedly was the victim of racial discrimination because of his family’s failed efforts to buy a home in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a federal housing discrimination complaint this month against Bridgeport homeowners Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia, Prudential Rubloff Properties and real estate agent Jeffrey Lowe. HUD said they violated the Fair Housing Act when the Sabbias backed out of a verbal agreement to sell the $1.799 million home to the Willborns, who are African-American.
The matter could have been handled as an administrative case by HUD or in the federal court system by the Justice Department. The Willborns elected to transfer the matter to federal court, which means the Justice Department has, by statute, 30 days to file a case. The transfer to the federal court system means the Willborns could be eligible to receive punitive damages as well as compensatory damages from a jury. Get the full story »
Mortgage rates keep sinking; hit low of 4.36%
A home for sale in Kildeer, Ill. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
U.S. mortgage rates fell in the latest week to the lowest on record and posted their ninth drop in the last ten weeks, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Bye, McMansion. Americans go for smaller homes
AGreyson Properties employee walks in front of a Western Springs home his company built. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Toll the bell for the McMansion. After years of growth, the Census Bureau recently reported that median new home size fell to 2,135 square feet in 2009 after peaking at more than 2,300 earlier in the decade.
“Home buyers are asking for less, cutting back on options and reducing square footage,“ said Steven Pace of the North Carolina-based Pace Development Group, which builds both custom and tract houses ranging in price from below $250,000 to more than $2 million. Get the full story »
