Thousands of REALTORS® from around the country rallied to promote homeownership and the real estate industry at the foot of the Washington Monument on Thursday, the largest assembly of REALTORS® in one place and U.S. News & World Report was there to cover it. Find photos, a video and full coverage.

In other news:

Lenders are stepping up efforts to crack down on mortgage fraud. (Chicago Tribune)

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may be easing condo mortgage rules. (Daily Herald)

30-year mortgage rates fall to new record low of 3.79. (Chicago Sun-Times)

In its latest monthly outlook, mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae says the housing market is off to a promising start and improving consumer sentiment will help with a gradual recovery in 2012, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Among its findings, Fannie Mae noted that more consumers are reporting they believe it is a good time to sell their homes, a segment of the market that has long been depressed, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

In other news:

Slow foreclosure process in Illinois. A new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association finds that “7.5 percent of mortgage loans on one- to four-unit residential properties in Illinois were in foreclosure at the end of March, compared with a national average of 4.39 percent,” due in part to the state’s court-supervised foreclosure process, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Protesters in Chicago call for foreclosure freeze. CBS2-TV in Chicago reports that as the city readies for the upcoming NATO Summit, protesters are calling for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.

NSBAR President and CEO Terry Penza

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® congratulates Terry Penza, president and CEO of the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS®, on being chosen the 2012 recipient of the William R. Magel Award of Excellence today at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Midyear in Washington, D.C.

The NAR award honors an individual who has truly excelled in his or her role as an association executive of a local or state REALTOR® association. NAR’s Midyear Live Blog offers more detail about the award.

Penza, RCE, CAE, has led the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS® (NSBAR) for more than 25 years. Prior to that she was affiliated with REALTOR® associations in central and southern Illinois.

Congratulations Terry!

New home construction rose to 717,000 homes in April, a 2.6 percent increase from March, the U.S. Commerce Department announced today. Construction of both single-family homes and apartments increased, reports the Belleville News-Democrat (via AP).

In other news:

Foreclosed owners back on the path to homeownership
An article in today’s Chicago Tribune reports on a small but growing number of people who lost their homes to foreclosure or sold through short sale and are already returning to homeownership.

Chicago Agent Magazine reports that housing affordability is at its highest level in four decades, according to an analysis of Federal Housing Finance Agency data by the analytics firm Fiserv.

Illinois REALTOR® Jack Persin, the president/managing broker at Ryan Hill Realty and co-president of the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® told Chicago Agent that local markets in the DuPage County area have responded well to the historic levels of affordability.

“Absorption rates continue to drop,” Persin said. “In DuPage, where once absorption rates were running 10 to 14 month, we now find them nine months and under.

At the same time, Crain’s Chicago Business reports that downtown apartment rents hit another high in the first quarter of 2012. Read the full story.

In today’s Peoria Journal Star, Laura Martin, president of the Peoria Area Association of REALTOR®, tells why she and many of her REALTOR® colleagues from Illinois and thousands more from around the country are headed to Washington, D.C., this week to fight for homeownership and the real estate industry.

REALTORS® will be talking to federal lawmakers about issues such as preserving the mortgage interest deduction, liquidity in the mortgage lending markets, FHA, flood insurance, Internet sales tax and other key issues.

“Congress addresses myriad real estate issues every year. What makes this year unique is that, for the first time, the American Dream as we know it is under attack. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream of home ownership, and we will fight against obstacles that make it more difficult for people to buy, own and invest in real estate,” Martin said.

Have you fallen behind on your mortgage payments? Are you or someone you know at risk of losing your home to foreclosure? The Illinois Attorney General’s Office may be able to help.

The office is hosting a Help for Homeowners Mortgage Resource Fair on May 19 in Springfield at 500 S. Second Street. The event is free and runs from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Advocates and counselors from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office will provide homeowners with information on homeowner rights, foreclosure prevention, and obtaining no-cost assistance locally and throughout the state. Several lenders will also be on site to assist.

Download a flyer on the event, including a checklist of documents to bring with you. You can also learn more about the event by contacting the Homeowners Helpline at 1-866-544-7151.

Illinois REALTORS® will be joining thousands of REALTORS® from around the country on May 17 to rally for homeownership and the real estate industry in Washington, D.C., Chicago Agent Magazine reports.

Jon Broadbooks, director of communications for the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR), said a strong showing of  Illinois REALTORS® and IAR leadership will be among the crowd, with more watching the event online.

The present real estate market, Broadbooks said, will be a huge focus of the rally, and REALTORS® are hoping to draw attention to the interdependent relationship between housing and lending.

“This is about helping [prospective buyers] realize the American Dream,” Broadbooks said.

How low can they go?
Freddie Mac reports that mortgage rates fell to yet another record low with the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan falling to 3.83 percent while the average 15-year rate dropped to 3.05 percent for the week ending today, according to Bloomberg.com.

In other news:

April home sales rose 27 percent in the Bloomington-Normal housing market, the Pantagraph reports.

The median home price climbed 15.3 percent in the Springfield area market during the first quarter of 2012, the State Journal-Register reports.

The Chicago Tribune reports on a new smartphone app, HomeSnap, that allows you to snap a photo of a house and pull up the estimated value, what it last sold for and more information.

Fannie Mae turned a profit in the first quarter of 2012 and will repay the U.S. Treasury Department $2.8 billion, according to the Associated Press (via Daily Gazette).

Chicago Agent Magazine spotlights the outreach efforts of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) and the Chicago Association of REALTORS® to prepare their members for the Illinois real estate license transition period that ended on April 30.  Now that the deadline has passed and the informational blitz has ended, the associations are looking ahead to help members working under the new requirements.

IAR Director of Communications Jon Broadbooks said he has been very encouraged by Illinois’ markets since the April 30 deadline, and going forward, he said he is very confident for the real estate market. With the economy improving steadily with each month, he said the increased opportunities for agents will more than make up for any possible reductions in numbers because of the new licensing requirements.

In other news:

Borrowers seeing refinancing delays: More homeowners looking to refinance their mortgages are finding themselves waiting due to delays. (Wall Street Journal)

Freddie Mac to drop fee: The mortgage giant announced that it will drop a refinancing fee on deeply underwater loans.  (Wall Street Journal)

April home sales/prices climb in Rock River Valley: Year-over-year homes sales rose for the 11th straight month in April while prices topped $100,000 for the first time since November. (Rockford Register Star)

Members of the Bloomington-Normal Association of REALTORS® presented a $10,000 check to help fund efforts to create jobs in the area.

The Bloomington-Normal Association of REALTORS® has committed $10,000 toward an initiative that will create a five-year job-creation plan. The money was collected from all the association’s 430 members, and is to be used for the “Forging Ahead” effort which is being spearheaded by the Economic Development Council of Bloomington-Normal.

Members gathered last week to present the check. The Bloomington Pantagraph article on the donation can be found here.

Jobless claims fell last week, marking a change in direction after four previous weeks of increases, CNN Money reports. According to the Labor Department, about 365,000 people filed for unemployment last week, a drop from the 392,000 claims filed the week before.

In other news:

The Bloomington-Normal Association of REALTORS® contributed $10,000 Wednesday for the area’s economic development job creation plan. Read more in the Pantagraph.

Chicago’s vacant building ordinance nets $619,000 in fines. The Chicago Tribune reports that the city of Chicago has levied fines against more than 150 financial institutions for not following the city’s vacant building ordinance.

Buy vs. own
A new study from the homebuilder PulteGroup finds that many renters aspire to become homeowners. According to the study, among “renters who plan to purchase a home in the future, 60% have “increased their intent” to do so from a year ago, meaning they are inclined to hop off the sidelines,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

In other news:

Homebuyers taking another look at short sales
Short sale activity has grown significantly in the Kane County and Chicagoland area in recent years with buyers looking for deals and lenders becoming more willing to approve short sales as an alternative to foreclosures, the Kane County Chronicle reports.

Cook County pushes for property tax exemption bill
Cook County wants the state to crack down on homeowners who erroneously claim property tax exemptions, but the Illinois Association of REALTORS® is opposed to a provision in the bill that would allow the county to place a lien on the property for the amount owed, even in cases where there wasn’t knowing or willful intent to give false information, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

“We are afraid that you’re going to get a lot of people unwittingly caught up in this,” said Jon Broadbooks, the group’s communications director. “A lot of people don’t understand property tax bills.”

Congrats to Illinois REALTOR® Dean Rouso
Rouso, the managing broker of Baird & Warner in LaGrange, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) Multiple Listing Service. Rouso is a former president of MRED and is involved in the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®, as well as the Illinois and National Association of REALTORS®. Read more in Chicago Agent Magazine.

Thinking about buying a home and want to see what’s for sale in your market?  As part of the REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend,  REALTORS® in your community and around the country will be showcasing their listings with open houses on Saturday and Sunday. How big is the Nationwide Open House Weekend event? REALTOR.com breaks down some of the numbers in this infographic.

 (Source: REALTOR.com)

March pending home sales rose 4.1 percent over February and are 12.8 percent higher than a year ago, according to the Pending Home Sales Index released today by the National Association of REALTORS®

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun forecasts that 2012 will be a year of recovery for housing. First quarter sales were up and March’s strong pending home sale activity signals that the trend could continue into the second quarter.

“The housing market has clearly turned the corner.  Rising sales are bringing down inventory and creating much more balanced conditions around the county, which means home prices will be rising in more areas as the year progresses,” Yun said.

April 30 is the deadline to transition your Illinois real estate license from Salesperson to Broker or Broker to Managing Broker. The Illinois Association of REALTORS® has everything you need to know about license transition and renewal. Find information on who has to transition, a Q & A, details about transition/renewal applications and more.

If you need to schedule a proctored exam, contact the IAR partner local boards that are still scheduling exams through Friday, April 27.

• Bloomington 309-664-5092
• Capital Area (Springfield) 217-698-7000
• Egyptian (Southern Illinois) 618-364-0046
• Greater Gateway (Metro East) 618-692-8300
• Kankakee 815-937-5551
• Livingston 815-842-4123
• Mainstreet (suburban Chicago) 630-324-8400
• McHenry County 815-459-0600

Learn more about transition through IDFPR’s recently posted Q&A for those making the transition. Topics include:

•  What you need to submit.
•  What do you do if you miss a deadline?
• What will the license “look-up” page look like after May 1?
• How what’s the state doing to help get license applications processed?

The Illinois housing market got some good news this week with the release of March home sales statistics that showed statewide sales posting the best March in four years and median prices snapping a 20-month streak of price declines, according to data released by IAR.

IAR President Loretta Alonzo told WBBM Newsradio that she hasn’t seen the real estate business this busy since five years ago when the market began its downturn. Alonzo had some advice to potential buyers who, up until now, have been waiting on the sidelines:

“Start looking now, because you’re gonna find a decrease in inventory. The good homes are going quickly, and the interest rates are still below 4 percent. So, it’s a very good buyer’s market out there,” she said.

More media coverage of March Illinois home sales:

• Illinois March home sales best in four years – WJBC radio
• Chicago home sales, prices surge in March – Chicago Tribune
• Home sales and prices rise in Chicago in March – Chicago Sun-Times
• Local home sales up 6.5%; statewide sales best in four years – State Journal-Register
• Demand grows in Chicago’s housing market – Medill News Service
• Chicago-area home sales up 24% in March – Crain’s
• County home sales jump 69% – Northwest Herald
• Illinois home prices halt 20-month price descent – HousingWire

Today IAR released its home sales report for March data. Home sales were up 21.1 percent statewide in March 2012 compared to March 2011 and median prices held steady, breaking a 20-month streak of price declines.

“There are encouraging signs in the market,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois, in his Illinois housing market forecast. “Sales volumes are up, time-on-the-market levels are down significantly from a year ago and prices appear to be stabilizing in Illinois although continuing to fall in the Chicagoland area. Further, in the last month there was a more even spread of sales prices compared to previous months where homes sold for less than $200,000 dominated the market.”

IAR recently spoke to Dr. Hewings about the spring real estate market. In this video, he talks about an expected rise in home sales, the impact distressed properties continue to have on prices and the current market factors — including rising rents and low mortgage rates — that could prompt more people to buy.