Feb. 9 at 6:06 a.m.
Filed under:
Housing,
Mortgages,
Real estate
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
The White House will propose a path to wind down and eventually eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and specify a range of options to replace the mortgage companies that have played a central role in the housing market for decades, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Obama administration is due to release its proposal for the future of the nation’s $10.6 trillion mortgage market as soon as Friday, outlining steps to gradually reduce the government footprint in the mortgage market. Together with federal agencies, Fannie and Freddie have accounted for nine of 10 new loan originations in the past year. Get the full story »
Feb. 8 at 11:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Almost two of every five owners of single-family, detached homes in the Chicago area were underwater on their mortgage in December, an all-time high and far outpacing national trends, according to data to be released by Zillow.com Wednesday.
The realty Web site found that 38.6 percent of all single-family detached homes with a mortgage had negative equity, meaning homeowners owed more on the homes than the properties were worth in the fourth quarter, compared with 32.9 percent in the third and 28.3 percent a year earlier. Nationally, the negative equity rate was 27 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 23.2 percent in the third quarter. Get the full story »
Feb. 8 at 12:36 p.m.
Filed under:
Commercial real estate,
Real estate
From The La Salle NewsTribune | A building that housed one of the branches of failed bank Amcore is up for bids. The sale is being handled by CB Richard Ellis, and the building, located in Peru, Ill., is being sold by sealed bids due March 9.
Feb. 8 at 11:07 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Housing,
Mortgages,
Real estate
By Reuters
The White House budget proposal to be unveiled next week includes an increase in borrowing costs for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, industry sources said Tuesday.
The move is part of a broader revamp of the U.S. housing finance system to reduce the role of the government in the mortgage market, including a gradual wind-down of government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Feb. 8 at 5:23 a.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
Martin Havlat. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Former Chicago Blackhawks left wing Martin Havlat, who now skates for the Minnesota Wild, on Monday sold his 16th-floor condo unit on the New East Side in a cash deal for $670,000 — $90,000 less than he paid for it in 2006.
Havlat, 29, bought the three-bedroom unit in the Lancaster building in 2006 for $760,000. Features in the six-room, 1,800-square-foot condo include a full limestone bath with a whirlpool, a full granite bath, mud set showers in both full baths, a powder room with an onyx floor, Grohe faucets throughout, Brazilian cherry floors, a balcony, lake views, and a custom kitchen with slate floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, 42-inch cabinets and a Sub-Zero refrigerator. Get the full story »
Feb. 7 at 7:23 a.m.
Filed under:
Housing,
Real estate
Actor Jeff Garlin. (Tribune)
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Actor and comedian Jeff Garlin and his wife have paid close to $600,000 to buy a vintage six-room condominium unit on the Gold Coast, less than a block from Lake Michigan.
A Chicago native and a Second City alum, Garlin, 48, is best known for his longtime role as Larry David’s manager Jeff Greene on HBO’s popular “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Garlin also has appeared in more than two dozen films, including a major role in “The Bounty Hunter” and a significant voice role in “WALL-E.” Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 5:11 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Real estate,
Updated
By Reuters
Bank of America appointed on Friday a new foreclosure and loan modifications czar, and created a new unit to oversee problem home loans in a bid to sort out its on-going foreclosure issues, becoming the first large U.S. bank to do so.
The new unit creates a seventh major division at the bank reporting directly to Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, an indication that the largest U.S. mortgage servicer is attempting to be more aggressive in resolving its problem mortgage loan portfolio. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 12:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Mortgages,
Real estate
By Dow Jones Newswires
Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages barely edging up, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.
“Mortgage rates held relatively stable this week on news that the economy improved and inflation remained in check at the end of 2010,” said Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. Get the full story »
By Becky Yerak
The stock of $2.12 billion-asset Old Second Bancorp Inc. was down 16.6 percent in late morning trading as the troubled Aurora-based lender reported a fourth-quarter loss of $76.6 million, or $5.48 a share. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 10:07 a.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
From Crain’s Real Estate Daily | Sportscaster Mike Adamle faces a foreclosure suit on his Evanston home after failing to pay off a $1.1-million loan that matured in August. According to a complaint filed by PrivateBank & Trust Co., Adamle and his wife, Kim, owe the bank about 30 percent more than the $920,000 than they paid in July 2005 for the home on Lincoln Street near Ryan Field.
Feb. 2 at 3:59 p.m.
Filed under:
Real estate,
Updated
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Mortgage loan servicers negotiated 1.76 million permanent loan modifications for homeowners last year, but more than two-thirds of them were completed in-house and not part of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program. Get the full story »
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
If a groundhog is supposed to predict the end of winter, can vacant office space signal who’s going home with a Super Bowl victory Sunday?
Just maybe, says commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, whose executive chairman happens to be Roger Staubach, who has two Super Bowl rings of his own. Get the full story »
Feb. 2 at 1:43 p.m.
Filed under:
Commercial real estate,
Real estate
Crain’s Chicago Business | Two downtown office towers — Three First National Plaza at 70 W. Madison St. and 233 N. Michigan Ave. in Illinois Center — have come on the market in a possible sign of thawing in real estate investment.
Feb. 1 at 1:57 p.m.
Filed under:
Housing,
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
The number of households forced to spend more than half of their monthly income on rent and possibly also live in severely substandard conditions rose by more than 20 percent between 2007 and 2009, the federal government said Tuesday.
Almost 7.1 million low-income households were defined as having “worst case housing needs” as a result of joblessness, rising rents and a general lack of affordable rental housing. Get the full story »
Feb. 1 at 12:44 p.m.
Filed under:
Housing,
Real estate,
Sports
By Bob Goldsborough | Elite Street | Former Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon has tried to sell his three-bedroom townhome in Northbrook since August. Now, he has become motivated, cutting the 2,465-square-foot townhome’s asking price on Jan. 10 to $610,000 from $800,000 .
Gordon, 27, played for the Bulls from 2004 until 2009, when he signed a five-year, $55 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. Get the full story »
