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Category Archives: Agent “Doing Business” Discussions
Prices & Mortgage Rates Going Up in 2016

The monthly mortgage payment on a home is determined by two elements: the price of the house and the interest rate you pay on your mortgage. Recently released reports are revealing that the experts expect both elements to increase in 2016.
HOME PRICES
CoreLogic has projected a nationwide 5.2% home value appreciation for the next twelve months. Here is their breakdown by state:
MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES
All four of the entities that provide projections on mortgage interest rates agree: they’re going up in 2016. Here are the predictions over the next four quarters:
Bottom Line
With both home values and interest rates projected to increase over the next twelve months, buying (or moving-up), sooner rather than later, makes sense.
Blog post via KCM Blog
Rent vs. Buy: Either Way You’re Paying A Mortgage

There are some people that have not purchased a home because they are uncomfortable taking on the obligation of a mortgage. Everyone should realize that, unless you are living with your parents rent free, you are paying a mortgage – either your mortgage or your landlord’s.
As The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explains:
“Households must consume housing whether they own or rent. Not even accounting for more favorable tax treatment of owning, homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord plus a rate of return.
That’s yet another reason owning often does—as Americans intuit—end up making more financial sense than renting.”
Christina Boyle, a Senior Vice President, Head of Single-Family Sales & Relationship Management at Freddie Mac, explains another benefit of securing a mortgage vs. paying rent:
“With a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, you’ll have the certainty & stability of knowing what your mortgage payment will be for the next 30 years – unlike rents which will continue to rise over the next three decades.”
As an owner, your mortgage payment is a form of ‘forced savings’ that allows you to have equity in your home that you can tap into later in life. As a renter, you guarantee your landlord is the person with that equity.
The graph below shows the widening gap in net worth between a homeowner and a renter:
Bottom Line
Whether you are looking for a primary residence for the first time or are considering a vacation home on the shore, owning might make more sense than renting with home values and interest rates projected to climb.
Blog post via KCM Blog
MRED Chicagoland Report for October, 2015
Transitory periods in the market are common this time of year, and after a persistent period of steady year-over-year climbs in sales metrics, recent low national numbers have not fulfilled what many predicted. But on a positive note, jobless claims have also been at low levels, coming in as the lowest number since 1973. As always, every market and situation is unique, so some numbers seen in national trends may not always line up with local markets.
New Listings in Chicagoland were down 1.4 percent for detached homes and 1.2 percent for attached properties. Listings Under Contract increased 15.3 percent for detached homes and 14.9 percent for attached properties.
The Median Sales Price was up 6.8 percent to $203,015 for detached homes and 6.4 percent to $167,000 for attached properties. Months Supply of Inventory decreased 20.0 percent for detached units and 19.5 percent for attached units.
Interest rates are an area to pay attention to as rate hikes are widely expected before the year ends. The Federal Reserve Bank has skipped two opportunities to raise rates this fall, but the final meeting in December will likely include a minor rate hike. Although we are headed into a slower time of year, as housing activity goes, there are still many nuggets of optimism to mine from monthly figures.
MRED real estate professionals can log into MREDLLC.com and click on the Statistics tab to get the latest Lender Mediated and Monthly Market Indicators Reports. You can also click on the Local Market Updates choice under the Statistics tab and use our Interactive Market Analytics map for the latest local market metrics.
Any questions? Please contact MRED’s Help Desk at 630-955-2755 or help.desk@MREDLLC.com.
Singles Are Falling For Their Dream Home [Infographic]
![Singles Are Falling For Their Dream Home [INFOGRAPHIC] | Keeping Current Matters](https://i0.wp.com/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Single-Home-Buyers-KCM.jpg)
Blog post via KCM Blog
MRED Hacking Away at the Land of Lincoln Hackathon
MLS Giant Helping to Promote the Illinois Open Data Portal
LISLE, ILLINOIS (October 21, 2015) – Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS), is participating with the Chicago section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE Chicago) and other technology companies at the Land of Lincoln Hackathon, an event promoting the public data found at the State of Illinois open data portal.
The Land of Lincoln Hackathon looks to promote awareness of the great resources for the citizens of Illinois and foster innovation from the academic and professional communities. The 2015 Hack Challenge is for those who submit software solutions that creatively utilize the public data found at the Illinois open data portal. Prizes will be awarded at multiple levels: K-12, Collegiate, Professional, and a special “Women Who Code” award for teams that feature one or more women on their project (designed to help promote women in STEM).
Registration is now open for this month long event. A team of judges will award prizes to be handed out November 2nd at the IEEE Chicago Symposium @ Motorola Solutions Schaumburg Campus.
Chris Lambrou, MRED’s Vice-President of Special Projects/R&D, is Chairman of this year’s event. “It’s important to raise awareness of the State’s portal and bring the data closer to the consumer,” said Lambrou. “Events such as this give software developers the opportunity to utilize public data as a utility to innovate with and enhance the quality of life in the Chicagoland area.”
Sponsors for the event include MRED, IEEE and CVSHealth.
“We’ve had overwhelming support from the Chicagoland IEEE and tech communities.” said Vickie Peters, IEEE Chicago Chapter Chair. “The entire planning committee is excited about the process and can’t wait to view the apps that evolve from the Land of Lincoln Hackathon and interact with the development teams that submit.”
For more information about the Land of Lincoln Hackathon – visit http://ieeechicago.org/
About MRED
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to more than 40,000 brokers and appraisers and nearly 8,000 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding “collar” counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers over twenty products and services to its customers, complementing connectMLS™, the top-rated MLS system in the country for two years running according to the WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for five consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in the United States and Canada by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.



![Existing Home Sales Up 3.9% [INFOGRAPHIC] | Keeping Current Matters](https://i0.wp.com/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/NAR-EHS-October-KCM.jpg)