Lakeshore Analytics

Chicago area plagued by 8 straight months of job losses

The Chicago MSA has lost jobs for eight straight months, erasing all job gains since January 2010. The unemployment rate, at 10.4, is higher than it has been since April 2010. It is 1.3 percentage points higher than the U.S. unemployment rate. The size of the Chicago MSA labor force, which is the number of [...]

Big discount for getting a 15-year loan

The difference between the rates on 30- and 15-year mortgages is now 0.87%, the highest in years. Since 2006, this difference has averaged 0.46%, but this difference has been increasing for 11 straight months, indicating that consumers who take out a 15-year loan are getting a record-large discount over those who take out a 30-year [...]

Tight standards mean missed opportunity for many borrowers

Moody’s Economy.com highlights the difference between the average interest rate consumers are paying on their outstanding mortgages and the prevailing rates on new loans: In a declining interest rate environment, such as we have seen for about the last 20 years, you would expect consumers to refinance repeatedly as the interest rates go down. Therefore, [...]

Illinois economy rebounding slower than nation; continues long-term trend

The Illinois economy has grown more slowly, or contracted more sharply, than the U.S. economy as a whole every year for at least the past 12 years; new data released for 2010 show that the trend continued last year. The U.S. economy grew by 2.55% in 2010, while Illinois posted just a 1.90% increase. Illinois is [...]

WSJ: 25% of Illinois mortgage apps denied

Over a quarter of mortgage applications made to top lenders in Illinois are denied, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal (“Tighter Lending Criteria Crimps Housing,” June 25). Illinois, at a 25.5% rejection rate, is below the national average of 26.8%. Some states, including Texas, Mississippi, and Vermont have denial rates of 35%. [...]

U.S. should abandon the fiction of Fannie/Freddie dividends

Fannie Mae, one of the two housing agencies under federal government conservatorship, made a $73 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2010. There’s just one problem with that, according to the Wall Street Journal (“Fannie and Freddie Caught in Viscious Dividend Cycle”, March 1): Fannie Mae’s fourth-quarter income of $73 million, announced Thursday, was [...]