Most out-of-towners want a second home in the heart of Chicago, says Nathalie Tourre, but few want to spend the time furnishing it.

“They love the idea of having a getaway location, but nowadays, people’s lives are already being pulled in so many directions,” says Tourre, who serves as sales manager for CityFront Plaza in Streeterville.

That’s why developers chose to add several “in-town residences” to the condominiums in CityFront Plaza’s second tower, the 41-story St Clair, located at 240 E Illinois St. The studio-sized units, priced from the $370s to $420s, come fully furnished with furniture, high-definition televisions and appliances.

When completed, The St Clair will feature several hotel-quality amenities, such as a private club for residents (an ideal spot for a coffee and the news in the morning, or a glass of wine and a good book at night, Tourre says), a private spa and an indoor lap pool.

The St. Clair, developed by Centrum Properties and designed by DeStefano & Partners, comprises 253 condominiums. In February, prices ranged from the $380s to $4 million. Deliveries will begin in 2010.

A rush of articles stemmed from yesterday's Appraisal Research Counselors luncheon, including one from the Sun-Times suggesting we prepare for the "glut" of condos set for delivery this year. ARC noted that 5,900 new units will hit the market in 2008.

There's another statistic from Gail Lissner's presentation that got less attention. More than half of this year's pending deliveries are already sold - 4,200, according to ARC, leaving 1,700 left to be absorbed. Predictions for 2009 (which exclude proposals that haven't broken ground yet) show 2,300 units already sold out of 4,200 under construction.

I dropped by the Appraisal Research Counselors 2008 Forecast Luncheon today to hear remarks on ARC's upcoming benchmark report.

At the luncheon, Gail Lissner, a vice president with ARC, pointed to 235 Van Buren as last year's absorption leader - though she suggested that investor sales played a large part in that lead.

ARC found that the 46-story high-rise sold 50 percent of its 714 units in a single quarter. Since then, though, the project has reported just a handful of additional sales, as Joe Askins reported at the end of January. Look for more on CMK Companies' 1720 S. Michigan in the March issue of New Homes Magazine.

Of all the groups threatened by gentrification and soaring mortage payments, senior citizens might be the most at-risk. This singular demographic is the focus of a new feature article from the always-impressive Chicago Reporter.

The mag looked closely at the statistics and found that the city lost about 50,000 seniors from 1990 to 2006; at the same time, senior populations in suburban Cook County swelled by about 11 percent.

Rapid condo development occurred in seven of the 10 community areas where the highest percentages of seniors moved between 2000 and 2007.

The statistics are troubling, says Lori Clark, executive director of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, a grassroots nonprofit that addresses quality of life issues for senior citizens.

“Seniors add value to the communities. They are mentors to young children. They’re the most active volunteers in a community. They’re your good neighbors, your quiet neighbors, the people who care about keeping the community in good condition,” Clark said. “The people who helped build the city of Chicago shouldn’t be thrown away.”

They didn't use crystal balls, but a handful of key real estate players from the Lincoln Park Builders of Chicago nonetheless sought to predict the future at a recent forecast panel. Don Debat, a columnist for New Homes Magazine, reports on their prognostications in this month's issue.

Although interest rates are extremely affordable, the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis has caused the nation’s mortgage industry to go through a “state of siege” and that likely will last two more years, said mortgage broker David Hochberg of Townstone Financial.

“Over the last five years, the residential lending market was like the Wild West,” Hochberg said. “Now, 6-percent home-loan rates are available, but many lenders are not approving loans. No-doc loans are out, and lenders are saying that mortgage applicants with a credit score in the low-500s seeking a zero-down payment loan will be rejected.”

Read the full story in New Homes' newly redesigned February issue.

We've heard it time and time again from our Realtor friends: Don't throw your money away by renting.

But in today's market, with prices in some neighborhoods trending down, buyers want to be sure they're getting the best possible deal.

With that in mind, Firebird Development Corp rolled out a rent-to-own program this week for a pair of rehabbed courtyard properties in Rogers Park: Columbia Parc and Columbia Gardens, two affordable projects geared toward first-time buyers. We spoke with Trevor Engelhardt, a broker with Baird & Warner, about the brand-new initiative.

"We're trying to address other market concerns, and a lot of concerns people have right now [is] the possibility that prices are going to continue to go down," he said.

Under the program, renters can choose to pay a slightly inflated monthly rent at the two developments. But at the end of a year, if the renter chooses to buy the condo, 100 percent of the past year's rent is cashed back to the buyer.

As an example, Engelhardt pointed to renter paying $1,200 a month for one of Columbia Parc's units. Using the rent-to-own program, the renter could expect a check for $14,400 back at the end of a year.

Let us know: How valuable is the opportunity to "test drive" a new condo before buying it? Would you consider paying slightly more in rent for the chance at buying the unit after a year?

"It’s almost like a limbo pole that’s almost on the ground and can’t go any lower. This is about it."

- Real-estate consultant Tracy Cross, on reports of the biggest quarterly drop in new home sales in more than two years.

Builders in the Chicago area sold 2,196 units in the fourth quarter of 2007, a 51-percent decline from Q4 2006, but Cross expects a market recovery in the second half of 2008 and predicts a 12-percent increase in home sales for the year, according to Crain’s.

Here's our good news / bad news post of the day. Today's Wall Street Journal features a profile writeup on John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who decided to bet against the housing market at the height of the bubble.

It was a risky move, but the ensuing subprime meltdown netted some $14 billion for his clients' funds. Paulson's personal take is estimated at $3 - $4 billion, according to the article.

Mr. Paulson has tried to keep a low profile, saying he's reluctant to celebrate while housing causes others pain. He has told friends he'll increase his charitable giving. In October, he gave $15 million to the Center for Responsible Lending to fund legal assistance to families facing foreclosure. The center lobbies for a law that would let bankruptcy judges restructure some mortgages.

"While we never made a subprime loan and are not predatory lenders, we think a lot of homeowners have been victimized," Mr. Paulson says. "Bankruptcy is the best way to keep homeowners in the home without costing the government any money."

"In this market, for the Spire to get several hundred contracts to move ahead with construction will be difficult. If they introduce 600 units priced at $2 million or more, that's a 7 1/2-year supply for the downtown Chicago luxury market. People who buy new have the patience to wait one to three years for a unit, and they're holding back to see how the economy and job market sort out."

- James M. Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties, offers his spin on Chicago's luxury housing market as Shelbourne Development opens The Chicago Spire's sales center.

The Spire's 1,194 condominiums go on sale today, with most units priced at $750,000 to $15 million. (No word in the latest report on whether Shelbourne and Savills will seek $40 million for the Spire's duplex penthouses.)

How about this for an interesting headline: "Nation's biggest bank buys nation's biggest mortgage mess."

That's just what happened today, when Bank of America pledged $4 billion to bail out Countrywide Financial Corp, the beleaguered mortgage operation that's been the poster child of the subprime crisis. From the CNNMoney.com article:

The firms said they do not plan to remain in subprime lending - the business of giving home loans to borrowers with weak credit - and said they would continue to work to keep troubled borrowers in their homes.