CHICAGO - With home prices nationwide still nearly 34 percent less than they were in September 2006, the real estate industry around Chicago continues to search for hints of an industry turnaround. But the news is better elsewhere. Not only did the bottom fall out and struggle to recover in 401ks and standard banking investments over the last seven years, so has real estate investments in the Chicago area.
In the real estate industry's 20-city index, prices rose 0.1 percent from December to January and 8.1 percent in the previous year. But home owners in the Chicago area were not as fortunate as other cities. Chicago-area prices were up 3.3 percent - nearly 5 percent less than others - compared with January 2012. Chicago's year-over-year increase was the second-smallest in a 20-city index. ...Read more
