Category: Housing trends
Trends affecting prices, architecture, locations, financing and other elements of Chicago houses, townhomes, condominiums, high-rises and single-family homes.
Center-city price appreciation strong in Chicago
Sorry, bubble fans, but Chicago's center city saw prices appreciate nearly 10% from Q4-2005 to Q4-2006, according to a report released today (pdf file [...]
Showers tread line between luxury and excess
Forget about that recent warning about water shortages out West. With the UN's World Water Day just around the corner, the International Builders' Sh [...]
Some buyers want lifestyle with new home
In the March issue of New Homes Magazine, columnist Don DeBat takes a look at the lifestyles being offered for sale along with the condos and single-f [...]
Is stone the way to go in Chicago yards?
We who still hold dear memories of walking barefoot in the grass in our youth died a little when we heard the current trend in landscaping is to pav [...]
Near West Side packed with new construction
A rash of comments on our post about the new condos under construction at 2200 W Madison got us thinking about the Near West Side neighborhood, especi [...]
Chicago's next hot neighborhoods
Architect Pat FitzGerald likes parts of the south and southwest sides of Chicago.
See the rest of Yo's wide-ranging interview with one of Chicago's [...]
Assessment cap for Chicago homeowners will resurface, but what about real tax reform?
Supporters of a bill that would continue a 7 percent assessment cap for Chicago homeowners failed to pass the legislation in November, but they will t [...]
Yo '07: Homeowner will be "master of the universe"
After we chatted up Riha Design Group's Kenneth Riha about where sales centers are heading, he gave us some insight into design trends in the homes th [...]
Yo '07: No such thing as too much information
Judging by the X/O Condominiums sales center, we'd say Riha Design Group president Kenneth Riha is ahead of the design curve, so we figured he'd be [...]
Yo '07: Are we headed for 10 percent price drops?
The price of homes in many parts of downtown Chicago, outerlying neighborhoods and the suburbs could flatten out or even drop as much as 10 percent in [...]
Dept. of protesting too much: it's a great time to buy a home – really
If you read today's New York Times, Wall Street Journal or USA Today, you might have seen a full page ad informing you that, "It's a great time to buy [...]
Which Chicago neighborhoods had the liveliest Halloween?
Which Chicago neighborhoods are attracting the most young families? Can we take Halloween as a rough gauge? Yo's truly lives in Bucktown and was a l [...]
Is Loop / New East Side ready for residential boom?
The Loop / New East Side is highlighted as an emerging location for ultra-luxury housing in a feature story in the Winter issue of New Homes Magaz [...]
Housing bubble hiss: existing-home sales down in Sept.
The headline of the day comes from a new release issued by the National Association of Realtors: "September existing-home sales ease, setting state [s [...]
Has River North lost its luster for luxury condo construction?
River North seemed to be THE place to buy a new luxury condo for several years running, and construction cranes were ubiquitous. But lately the neig [...]
Talk of Chicago housing bubble "exaggerated"
Reports of a housing bubble in the downtown Chicago market may have been greatly exaggerated compared with other housing markets nationwide, according [...]
Does life, or home buying, really begin at 21?
This recent news release by the National Association of Realtors attempts to convince us that 20-somethings are buying homes at a younger age than the [...]
Two-thirds of Lakeshore East home buyers coming from suburbs
Where does all the money come from? It's a question we hear all the time at Yo from friends in our paltry income bracket wondering where so many bu [...]
Loft condos and apartments take academic approach to real estate
Chicago's loft market ain't what it was in the late '90s when nearly every new development seemed to be a loft, but these days the product is more int [...]
Mayor warns Chicago property taxes could double for some homeowners
Mayor Daley and Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan joined forces to warn that local homeowners could see property taxes rise dramatically - in some cas [...]