Mary Ellen Podmolik

Quicken Loans topped an annual national ranking of customer satisfaction with primary mortgage lenders for a fifth consecutive year.

Owners of single-room-occupancy hotels in Chicago will not be able to so easily evict residents and convert their properties to market-rate apartments, under an ordinance approved Wednesday by the Chicago City Council.

Fair housing groups 21 months ago hailed a rule finalized by the federal government that was intended to clarify federal fair housing protections that have been in place for more than 45 years.

An ordinance that would make it more expensive to convert single-room-occupancy hotels in Chicago into market-rate housing moved closer to becoming law Monday with an endorsement from aldermen.

The brick bungalow in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood doesn't look like much from the outside, with its windows covered with plywood, silver tape dangling from a second-floor eave and a blue tarp stretching across much of its roof. Its interior looks even worse.

The share of first-time homebuyers fell to its lowest level this year in almost 30 years, according to the National Association of Realtors, which is out with its annual survey on the state of the housing market.

Related Midwest has received the deed to the Chicago Spire site, ending the saga for control of a much-coveted site along North Lake Shore Drive.

The Chicago Spire's developer did not make a required payment to Related Midwest Friday that would have allowed it to retain possession of the coveted site for at least a little longer. Now, Related wants the property, stat.