| Freddie Mac's message about coming out of the slump? Not so fast. Freddie's Richard Padilla and Frank Northaft reported that housing starts are down 91% in the Chicago area this year, and they expect loan originations to drop 25% in 2010. | |
| Speaking to the Chicago Association of Realtors, Frank reports that an $8k tax credit to build homes resulted in a 52% drop in existing home sales in Chicago, creating a glut of vacant homes when homeowners moved for employment. Frank said government assistance is still available to those trying to keep their distressed homes in the HAM Program or for non-distressed homes in the HARP program. (Proof the economy is improving: The government is fully staffing the Department of Ridiculous Acronyms.) | |
| For more about home and apartment building values, CAR immediate past prez David Hanna talked to JSG Appraisals Jason Goldberg, Hammer Appraisal's David Hammer, and Accumark Appraisal's Andy Norak. The appraisers said they were valuing homes based on sale prices within one half to two miles, but some properties (like two- and three-bedroom flats) were hard to value because so few sold in the last year. The appraisers don't always include auctioned or foreclosed properties in their valuation, especially if it's atypical for the area. |
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