Inside these posts: Chicago real estate

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JPMorgan to buy majority stake in Aqua

From Crain’s Chicago Business | JPMorgan Asset Management has agreed to invest about $182 million in the apartments in the 82-story Aqua tower, the biggest local multifamily deal in more than three years.

Condo of ex-Blackhawk Ruutu back on market

By Bob Goldsborough | Elite Street | Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Tuomo Ruutu, now with the Carolina Hurricanes, has just placed his two-bedroom condominium unit in Lincoln Park back on the market for $499,000.

The Finland-born Ruutu, 27, played with the Blackhawks from 2003 until 2008, when he was traded to Carolina for Andrew Ladd. Get the full story »

Chicago-area home sales plunge in November

Sales of existing homes in the Chicago area plunged more than 30 percent in November, hurt by difficult comparisons as buyers last year sought to capitalize on federal homebuyer tax cut programs. Get the full story »

Chicago deal shows Tishman Speyer going back to basics

Tishman Speyer Properties’ purchase of a new Chicago office tower is the latest sign that the firm is going back to the basics as it emerges from one of the most devastating commercial real-estate cycles in decades.

Its purchase of 353 N. Clark St. for $385 million, an estimated $55 million less than it cost to build, also exposes the fault lines as well as the opportunities for investors and owners as the market recovers. Get the full story »

A third of Chicago-area homes underwater

A home with price reduction on the market in October. (Reuters)

The number of Chicago-area homes with negative equity in the Chicago area continued to rise in the year’s third quarter, a troubling sign for a local housing market struggling to recover.

Some 32.9 percent of all local single-family detached homes with mortgages were underwater in September, meaning the homeowners owed more on the loans than the properties are worth, according to new data from realty Web site Zillow.com. That compares with 30.9 percent in June and 27.2 percent in September 2009. The report does not include data on condominiums. Get the full story »

Dimon sells mansion for highly reduced $6.8M

By Bob Goldsborough | JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on Wednesday closed on the sale of his 18-room Gold Coast mansion for $6.8 million.

The buyer’s identity was not immediately available. Get the full story »

Ventas to buy Atria real estate assets for $1.5B

Ventas Inc. said Friday it is buying the real estate assets of Atria Senior Living Group for $1.5 billion in cash and stock, giving it a portfolio of 118 homes located in wealthy coastal regions.

The health care real estate investment trust is also assuming $1.6 billion in debt. Get the full story »

Chicago home sales rise 1.3% in August

The local home sales market failed to regain its momentum in August after tumbling in July, according to new data released Thursday by the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in the Chicago area rose a scant 1.3 percent in August to 5,561 homes sold, but were still down 19.6 percent from the 7,008 homes sold in August 2009. Get the full story »

Rapper Common renting out Museum Park condo

Common at the 2010 Grammy Awards. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | A South Side native, Grammy-winning rapper and actor Common is something of a renaissance man, with a string of rap hits and a growing acting career that has included roles in big box-office drawing films like “Terminator Salvation,” “Street Kings,” and “Date Night.”

One of Common’s lesser-known roles, however, is as a real-estate investor here in town, where the 38-year-oldĀ  has a 12th-floor condo unit that he owns in Museum Park on the South Side. It’s up for rental for $2,500 a month.

Common paid $402,000 in mid-2008 to buy the two-bedroom unit new. Located in a building that was constructed that year, the 1,248-square-foot unit has two baths, floor-to-ceiling windows, views of the Field Museum, a separate den/office, a private balcony, and a stone master bath with shower seat sprays. Get the full story »

Chicago home prices up 2.5% in June

Home prices in the Chicago area rose for the third straight month in June, raising them up to a level equivalent with a year ago, new data released Tuesday shows.

While Chicago’s one-month price gains were greater than many of the cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, national economic trends are likely to temper future home price appreciation, economists said.

“It’s a mixed bag,” said Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, “Corporate profits are still strong, inventories are low and that’s supposed to be a positive indicator. But confidence is a major driver of the economy. What really bothers me is the very high level of long-term unemployment.” Get the full story »

Chicago existing home sales mark year of growth

June marked a year of monthly positive year-over-year sales of existing homes in the Chicago area, leading some in the industry to conclude the market is finally stabilizing. But will the trend continue?

Home sales in the Chicago area rose 27.2 percent in June, to 9,085 single-family homes and condominiums sold during the month. The median sales price change still was in negative territory, however, falling 1.2 percent to $207,500, from $210,000 in June 2009, the Illinois Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Get the full story »