In Sunday's Trib, columnist Mary Umberger wrote that "sales are up for some of the most expensive real estate in Chicago" according to a few real-estate pros. One of those pros, Rubloff president Jim Kinney, explained that closings among $1 million-plus properties were up year-to-date over the same period in 2007.

That's not to say that Kinney sees the light at the end of the tunnel for everyone. He doesn't mince words when it comes to the state of the new-construction market.

Kinney said top-quality resale properties have held their own in the city, but new construction "is deathly."

He said the city has 13,000 new units in the pipeline, yet just 200 purchase contracts were signed in the first quarter.

Though he sees the upper-bracket sales as encouraging, they don't herald a turnaround, he said.

"There is no tsunami coming," Kinney said. "It's more like a tidal pool."

"Deathly"? Oof. So much for "stunningly soft."

New Homes has occasionally singled out areas as "Chicago's hottest neighborhoods." Let's turn that on its ear for a second: In today's market, what are Chicago's deathliest neighborhoods (is that even a word?), and why?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Two photos of the same site, in the 3900 block of S. Drexel Blvd. The first photo was taken early in January of 2006. The second was shot this afternoon.

That's the take on the residential new construction market from a developer I met with this morning.

If you were to describe current market conditions in three words or less, what would those words be?

It's been several months since Lennar declared 469 W Huron St a "no Parc-ing" zone, but the sales trailer remains on the site.

As shuttered sales trailers become a more common sight, we're soliciting suggestions for adaptive reuse. Shelters for homeless Realtors? Or?

Normally we don't post about properties in other states. But this one, from a San Diego developer, really stands out from the pack of incentives.

Last week I spent several days in Rogers Park conducting an extensive field survey of new construction and rehab projects – more than 80 of them, only a handful of which surface in a search for new construction on popular broker Web sites!

There were a number of scenes like the one above, reflecting the more than 1,200 properties currently for sale in Rogers Park.

Builders often consult knowledgeable real estate brokers about what and where they should build, so we asked David Hanna what he's saying to Chicago builders today.

Hanna is a partner in Prudential SourceOne and the president-elect of the 16,000-member Chicago Association of Realtors.

David Hanna is a partner in Prudential SourceOne and the president-elect of the 16,000-member Chicago Association of Realtors.

We sat down with David recently for a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics. Topic A, of course, is the state of the real estate market in Chicago. We hope you'll enjoy David's candid and nuanced take on the subject.

Stay tuned for more of our sit-down with David Hanna.

As the weather gets warmer, will our local Realtors also be standing on street corners hawking property?

Hat tip to Calculated Risk for the video link.

An earlier post on rent-to-own programs triggered a discussion on whether median home prices in Chicago have outpaced median income levels.

That discussion echoes the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Housing Affordability Index (HAI) – a single number that stands as a proxy for progress toward the NAR's goal of universal homeownership.

The NAR HAI "measures whether or not a typical family could qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home. A typical home is defined as the national median-priced, existing single-family home as calculated by NAR. The typical family is defined as one earning the median family income as reported by the U.S. Bureau of the Census."

The HAI concept has great explanatory power when applied to the state of the national single-family market for existing homes, but tells us nothing useful when translated to new construction at the city level – YoChicago's coverage area.

New construction in the city is a niche product, and much of it is calculated to draw buyers from beyond the city's boundaries. Let's put an end to the discussion of median family incomes vs median prices.