Crib Chatter

As Gary and G have already pointed out in other threads, the July sales data did not see much of a rebound from 2010’s dismal number which was bad because the tax credit had expired. Basically, everyone who wanted to buy in the spring/summer of 2010 did so before July so sales fell off a […]

According to Crain’s, new construction condo and townhouse sales downtown for the first half of the year were at their lowest since records began in 1998. According to Appraisal Research Counselors, there were just 261 sales in the first 6 months of the year down from 406 in the first half of 2010. “This is […]

We know that it is taking anywhere from 12 months to 24 months from the filing of the lis pendens to the bank taking possession in Cook County. In some cases, some of you have been living in properties for years without the bank even taking possession- not to mention those where the bank is now the […]

We’ve had a lot of chatter recently about how the foreclosures and short sales seem confined to the areas of the city that are NOT the Green Zone (aka, the neighborhoods encompassing the South Loop, the Loop, River North, Streeterville, the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood and North Center- to […]

After all the excitement a week or so ago about the “error” in the IAR monthly sales data, the IAR finally released the June data (two days late.) While everyone expected sales to be lower than June 2010, given that June 2010 was the deadline for closings to qualify for the first time homebuyers tax credit, sales were […]

This is a housing blog and not a CPS blog (there are some excellent ones out there, by the way) but often our chatter does turn to the neighborhood school near the property. We have discussed how some north side elementary schools are being turned around by parents who are “stuck” in their homes (can’t sell […]

As many of you know, the Illinois Association of Realtors provides both sales volumes and the median Chicago single family home and the median condo sales prices every month. Many regular readers of Crib Chatter know that there appeared to be some funny business with the Chicago monthly median sales prices cited by the Illinois Association of Realtors. […]

The May 2011 Chicago sales data is out from the Illinois Association of Realtors. It’s not surprising that we saw yet another year over year sales decline as 2010 was juiced by the home buyer tax incentive. In the city of Chicago, May home sales (single family and condominiums) totaled 1,705, up 16.5 percent from 1,464 […]

This 1-bedroom in a vintage courtyard building at 1104 W. Montana in Lincoln Park recently came on the market. It is listed as a short sale. But those of you who have been a Crib Chatter regular for a few years might recognize it from our chatter in 2008. Back in May 2008, the listing […]

Crain’s is reporting that the Andersonville zip code in Uptown saw the largest price appreciation for single family homes from the fourth quarter of 2000 to the fourth quarter of 2010 out of 225 Chicago area zip codes. The data includes the recent price declines. Here’s the top ten list: Uptown/Andersonville (60640): 39.3% Lincoln Square/Ravenswood […]