First quarter 2008 numbers are out for new home sales and they’re not pretty. Is anyone surprised? According to Crain’s: 5,813 sold in the suburbs 1,634 sold in the city Suburban new home sales were down 60% year-over-year. In the city, sales were down 64% from the first-quarter 2007. “It remains to be seen when this […]
Another sign of the times, but much more serious because they’ve already started construction, is this news from David Roeder of the Sun-Times that construction may have to halt at Waterview Tower, the 90+ story high-rise condo/hotel at 111 W. Wacker Drive in the Loop due to financing issues. They have already built up to at least […]
According to Crain’s, Lennar has canceled The Parc Huron at 469 W. Huron in River North after marketing it for only the last six months. It was supposed to be a 21-story, 221-unit building. The sales center opened in October 2007. What is telling is how many units they sold (or didn’t sell): Lennar began […]
The Wall Street Journal looks at foreclosures bringing down prices across the nation on the front page today. Most interestingly was where Chicago fell compared to the rest of the nation with the number of foreclosures. Looks like the Chicagoland area is among the highest in the nation as a percentage of overall housing. Wave […]
The Chicago Tribune weighs in on February’s housing numbers on the front page of the paper. Chicagoland saw better sales numbers than the rest of the nation. But it sounds like high prices and difficulty getting loans are still part of the problem. From the Chicago Tribune: “It’s a little encouraging,” said Mike Larson, an […]
The February housing numbers are out from the Illinois Association of Realtors. From Crain’s: The city’s condo market showed a mix bag, as sales dropped 9.7% to 1,047 units while the median price rose 10.5% to $314,900. These numbers were compared with February of 2007. The greater Chicagoland area seemed to fare worse than the […]
The Chicago Journal on March 12 also reported on developments involving a foreclosure filing on the developer of 830 S. Michigan, a proposed 80-story highrise across from Grant Park. The Chicago Journal: Hermes Capital Limited Liability Corporation filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the developers of a proposed condominium building at 830 S. Michigan. The project […]
Despite all the doom and gloom, sales are still happening. People are still buying condos from flippers. Million dollar homes are still being sold. And even 20-somethings are buying in Lakeview and Lincoln Park for nearly half a million dollars. From Smart Money Magazine: INDIFFERENT TO THE bleak real estate headlines, 26-year-old Michael Klauer and his […]
Crain’s reported yesterday that Related, co-developer of 340 On the Park, is canceling Canyon Ranch in River North but is mum on what will happen with its other proposed new building, The Peshtigo. There are several buildings that are now either canceled, on the verge of being canceled, or the developer is in financial difficulty. Condo […]
The Feb 28 issue of the Chicago Journal had statistics about the Chicago luxury housing market in Don Debat’s column called “Market is still alive.” From the Chicago Journal: “Although the news media would have you believe the sky is falling, an examination of two segments of the upper end of the housing market-properties listed for […]