April Home Sales Up 28% YOY (Chicago, Aurora: renters, insurance, mortgage)

[divakat]

Originally Posted by Ace Rothstein

I wonder what kind of foreclosure inventory hasn't even been put on the market yet.

The estimate is that the banks are sitting on 7 million foreclosed homes that they've never released into the market. They get tax breaks for doing this. It's driving down inventory to extremely low levels and people are fighting over the slim pickings. North Naperville has bidding wars hours after a house is up for sale lately. Other sellers list their homes at 2006 price levels and of course those sit and sit.

[Ace Rothstein]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

why would increasing housing prices be good for anyone except for those who bought their properties during the peak?
The city has been slowly demolishing itself since the 1960s yet the housing keeps getting more expensive... something is very wrong with the way this all works

You can find cheap properties in **** neighborhoods. Basic supply and demand.

[Link N. Parker]

I heard on CNBC, about a week or two ago, that a lot of home sales are being made by one specific company that is trying to build a nation-wide SFH rental platform...this company wants to have literally tens of thousands of SFH's (and condos too) that can be rented out. I dont know the name of the company but this company's vision is that if you need to rent a home (as opposed to an apartment) you can go on their site and find a rental home that fits your budget, go see it, and then sign a year lease. Apparantly, condos are on their radar as well, but I dont know much else about it.

But this seemed to be a reason for why sales in some areas are picking up...investors are snatching up properties to turn them into rentals.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

why would increasing housing prices be good for anyone except for those who bought their properties during the peak?
The city has been slowly demolishing itself since the 1960s yet the housing keeps getting more expensive... something is very wrong with the way this all works

What do you mean? The city has more housing units now than in the 60s. People per household is much lower though as the city of today is a much different place than it was.

[Vlajos]

Today's release of March numbers from Case Schiller has Chicago area prices up 7.8% over last year.

S&P | | Americas----

[trailblazer33]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Today's release of March numbers from Case Schiller has Chicago area prices up 7.8% over last year.

S&P | | Americas----

from Mr. Schiller himself, at the end of 2012: All You Wanted to Know About Housing in Three Minutes » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by trailblazer33

from Mr. Schiller himself, at the end of 2012: All You Wanted to Know About Housing in Three Minutes » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

That Counterpunch article is one of the most ignorant misrepresentations of data and quotes I've ever seen. Things are basically returning to historical norms, and guess what? That is a good thing. Acting like it is a disaster is simply foolish.

[im_a_lawyer]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

What do you mean? The city has more housing units now than in the 60s. People per household is much lower though as the city of today is a much different place than it was.

Huh? Chicago had more people 100 years ago than it does now. We made the list. Congrats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinki...ies_in_the_USA

I would personally estimate that more than a third of the city has already been demolished or converted into parking lots - just drive around, so many empty lots on west and south sides... someone's trying really hard to convert the entire city into faceless glass corporate buildings, "luxury" condos and parking lots. Affordable housing is for the poor anyways. Oh well, at least we're not Detroit...

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

Huh? Chicago had more people 100 years ago than it does now. We made the list. Congrats:
Shrinking cities in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would personally estimate that more than a third of the city has already been demolished or converted into parking lots - just drive around, so many empty lots on west and south sides... someone's trying really hard to convert the entire city into faceless glass corporate buildings, "luxury" condos and parking lots. Affordable housing is for the poor anyways. Oh well, at least we're not Detroit...

Almost all of the "parking lots" on the South and West side were once industrial buildings, not housing. That was a loss that occurred 30 or 40 years ago. There has been a loss of residential properties in those areas as well, but over the last few decades there has been a hell of a lot new construction and renovation in the North, Northwest sides, as well as in the West and South Loop, Bridgeport, Hyde Park and other areas.

I think the point that Chicago60614 is making is that the square footage of housing per person has been increasing both nationally and in Chicago. I lived in Ukrainian Village in the 90's and saw a large drop in the population during that time period. At the same time there was a growth in businesses and money spent in the area. That happened because three flats that had a family of 5 on each floor were converted to condos that had one or two people on each floor - but those one or two people had a lot more expendable income than any of the families that lived there before.

I'm not saying that is necessarily a good thing, but I am saying that a loss of population does not mean that an area is stagnating or dying off economically. In many cases it can mean the opposite.

[trailblazer33]

Originally Posted by Attrill

That Counterpunch article is one of the most ignorant misrepresentations of data and quotes I've ever seen. Things are basically returning to historical norms, and guess what? That is a good thing. Acting like it is a disaster is simply foolish.

How are things returning to historical norms? First time homebuyers are still staying out of the market, which is now dominated by investors. This is not the historical norm, especially for a "recovery."