MRED Blog

Graphic: Courtesy of MRED LLC

The most precise local housing market data for the first half of the year arrived Tuesday, and it’s full of good news. Foreclosures and short sales are taking up less room in the market, the gaps between what sellers think they can get for their homes and what they can actually get is narrowing, prices are up, birds are singing, and rainbows are shining.

The report, produced by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC, shows that in the first six months of the year, the Chicago-area real estate market’s recovery finally kicked in for real—even if it came many months behind the recovery in several other big cities.

Read the full article from Chicagomag.com to learn all about the great real estate market

Over 5000 Attendees Already Signed Up for Classes

LISLE, ILLINOIS (June 11, 2013) – With just a week to go, the rush is on to register for MREDpalooza, the real estate tech and training expo event of the year, taking place on June 18^th.    Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS) and the force behind MREDpalooza, sees the event gaining tremendous momentum as the event draws near.

“I’ve been focused on making this an event that everyone will appreciate in their own way.” said Gayle Ludemann, Executive Assistant to MRED CEO Russ Bergeron and primary Conference Coordinator.  “My goal is to have both sponsors and attendees walk away from the event thinking that their time spent at MREDpalooza will have helped them be more successful in their own business.”

“With the lineup of exhibitors, product training/demo options, as well as the sheer size and nature of this event, we expected to have major interest and participation in MREDpalooza,” said MRED CEO Russ Bergeron.  “But the response has been tremendous.  We are so excited that we are already making mental notes for the next MREDpalooza.”

With class content ranging from online marketing tools, to social networking, to mobile applications and more, those professionals interested in putting more tools in their real estate utility belt will have the ultimate opportunity to do so.  With drawings for over $10,000 in cash and prizes capping off the day, MREDpalooza will be the perfect day to join with your peers, visit with the creators of real estate products and services, and to get more in depth insight into how they work.  The rush is expected to last all the way until the doors open at 8:30 AM on Tuesday the 18^th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

“Our customers are very busy during this long overdue hot real estate market,” added Bergeron.   “We’re not going to ask for any of their valuable time unless we are prepared not only to meet, but to exceed their expectations.  We hope all of our customers will make time to attend – it WILL be worth it.”

About MREDpalooza

MREDpalooza is the largest free real estate tech expo in the country.  Taking place Tuesday, June 18, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, MREDpalooza will be a great opportunity for MRED’s customers to learn, at no cost,  about a myriad of real estate products and services to enhance their businesses.

MRED is planning for several thousand attendees and scores of vendors, many of whom have already committed to attending.  Training sessions and demos will be offered throughout the day, providing more in-depth understanding of many of the products and services.  Those wishing to attend MREDpalooza are asked to visit MREDpalooza.com for free registration information.

About MRED

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to nearly 40,000 brokers and appraisers and 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 per the latest WAV Group MLS Technology Survey.  For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.

Prices Rise at Fastest Pace Since 2006, Calming Investor Fears of a Spring Swoon

Home prices in March rose by 10.9% from a year earlier, the largest such gain in nearly seven years, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller an index tracking home prices in 20 U.S. cities. Nick Timiraos has details. Photo: AP.

The housing-market revival—and an accompanying report on consumer confidence—adds new grist for a debate inside the Federal Reserve about how far to push its easy-money policies, including an $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program which has helped to keep mortgage rates near historic lows, boosted asset prices and begun to stimulate hiring and spending.

Read the full article from the Wall Street Journal

Check out this infographic from Homes.com about buyer search habits

If you’re looking for the nation’s wealthiest neighborhoods, you won’t have to search too hard. Kenilworth, Ill. was recently named by Forbes as the fourth wealthiest neighborhood in the country behind two New York enclaves and a Washington DC hotspot. With a median income of $242,188 and an average home sale price of $1 million, the community holds its position as the wealthiest and most exclusive community in the Midwest.

Kenilworth dates back to 1889, when founder Joseph Sears purchased the land for the neighborhood and developed it as a planned community with specific ideas about how a community should be. This included components related to underground utilities, street design, no alleys or fences and high standards for construction. The community grew under the planning and direction of noted architect and town planner George W Maher, who designed 37 homes as well as a number of parks and common grounds in the popular style of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Today, the community continues to flourish and provide high quality homes of a distinctive style, including a number of homes for sale on Realtor.com that stretch into the multimillions with superior school support in both public and private opportunities.

Learn more about this city and its rich history at the Village of Kenilworth website.

Article via Chicago Real Estate Forum

The real estate wing of the World Wide Web is an increasingly competitive slice of cyberspace, with some of the Internet’s most popular websites fighting for agents, brokers and, of course, Internet home shoppers.

But of the many real estate websites out there, which ones prove the most popular with Web users? Using data from Experian Marketing Services, the folks at Inman News put together a ranking of the Internet’s most popular real estate sites, including the percentage each respective site garners among all Internet visitors.

Check out the infographic HERE for the results from Chicago Agent Magazine