Hong Kong has been experiencing some tumultuous times of its own: home prices have increased 13 percent this year on top of a 30 percent jump in 2009.

As “mortgage-backed security” became a dirty word, security underwriters backed off the playing field. But toward the end of April, California-based Redwood Trust Inc. became the first to tag back in.

Photo courtesy Truthout.org

While the rate of Illinois homeowners behind on their mortgage payments fell this year, the share of those borrowers beginning the foreclosure process spiked to 5.85 percent – over a full point above the record-high national rate.

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Although there was good news this week that housing prices are on the rebound, the aftershocks of the housing bubble are still being felt.

Chicago’s foreclosure rate shot up 30.3 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with January through June of 2008, according to a [...]

(Kate Shellnutt/MEDILL)

BY KATE SHELLNUTT – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

You didn’t have to look at your calendar yesterday to realize it was June 1—the start of moving season, when leases expire and Chicagoans move in and out—you could have just looked out your window.

U-Haul vans and moving trucks, back [...]

BY KATE SHELLNUTT – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Real estate agents can find themselves in scary situations; for example, all alone in an empty house.

So companies, like @properties in Chicago, and industry groups across the country are doing more to emphasize safety and self-defense.

Agents are often working on their own and [...]

BY KATE SHELLNUTT - MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

The Treasury announced new incentives Tuesday for lenders to modify second mortgages in an effort by the Obama administration to further help troubled borrowers. Mortgage experts say the plan’s expansion, which taps into a $50 billion rescue fund, may not be enough to help the [...]

As spring begins, companies that treat and build decks are seeing steady business in Chicago, as city-dwellers begin to spend more time on their decks. Kate Shellnutt/MEDILL

BY KATE SHELLNUTT – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

After a freezing winter in Chicago, locals are eager to enjoy their outdoor living spaces, and they’re willing [...]

Tenants across Chicago are subletting their units, like one in this Near North apartment building. (SUBLET.COM)

BY KATE SHELLNUTT – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Spring is the peak time for sublet-searching, and with the current economy, more renters are feeling the pinch of that monthly check and offering up rooms in their city digs.

Available [...]

Online calculators and quizzes, like this one at frontdoor.com, may offer assistance to overwhelmed buyers.

BY KATE SHELLNUTT – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Across the country, home prices are continuing their freefall (here in Chicago, they dropped 16 percent in 2008, according to the latest Case-Shiller Index report) and unsold properties remain [...]