1. MORE Economic Facts What’s Being Said About The Economy and Real Estate Today

2. NAR Midyear Forecast Existing home sales are forecast to increase to nearly 5.0 million this year. The median existing home price should increase about 8% this year and 5% in 2014. Mortgage interest rates are expected to rise to about 4.0% by the fourth quarter of this year.

3. National Association of REALTORS® May Existing Home Sales Up NAR Existing Home Sales May Release Total existing home sales increased 4.2% in May from April and up 12.9% from a year ago The median time on market was 41 days in May, down from 46 days in April All cash sales were 33% of transactions National median price: $208,000

4. National Association of REALTORS® “ Because of inventory shortages, higher home sales will push up home values to the highest level in five years,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. April Pending Sales Up.3% from March to April Up 10.3% from April 2012 NAR April Pending Home Sales Report

5. Illinois Association of REALTORS® “All the indicators point to a strong 3-month period of growth, even in median prices,” said Dr. Geoffrey Hewings, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of IL. Home sales in May were up 29.3% Chicagoland PMSA Median price stood at $184,000, up 8.2% from May 2012

6. Source: Illinois Association of REALTORS Illinois Days on Market

7. Illinois Home Sale Prices Rise 9 th Month in May Source: Illinois Association of REALTORS Nine straight months of year-over-year median price gains statewide It takes 83 days on average to sell a home in Illinois. Inventory dropped 29% from May 2012

8. U of I REAL Forecast The year-over-year median price forecast for Chicago PMSA is expected to trend up 8.2% in June, 10.1% in July and 10.1% in August. The three-month average sales forecasts point to increases between 23.1% to 31.2% from 1 year ago.

9. Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® Sales of single-family, detached homes in suburban Chicago increased 29.1% in May (based on year over year stats) according to MORe. Median sales price for detached homes increased 8.3% from May a year ago

10. National Association of Home Builders “The outlook for housing continues to brighten as builders respond to increased demand for new homes and rental apartments,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Rick Judson. Nationwide housing starts rose 6.8% in May.

11. Fannie Mae The second half of 2013 will be a little stronger than the first half, despite the slowdown during the past couple of months,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. Housing is expected to act as a tailwind for the economy throughout the year and into 2014, even though there may be short- term ups and downs in overall economic activity May Fannie Mae news release

12. Fannie Mae May 2013 National Housing Survey 76% say now is a good time to buy Fannie Mae Housing Survey People who say now is a good time to sell climbed 4 percentage points in May to 40% compared to 30% in April.

13. Freddie Mac June Housing Outlook “Rates would have to increase considerably before the reduction in demand for home purchases should be substantial. Nothing in recent trends suggests that we need to fear a major slowdown,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist. June Freddie Mac June Housing Outlook Interest rates should hover around 4% during the second half of 2013.

14. State of Illinois Economic Forecast Longer term, Illinois has a lot of what businesses need to thrive—talent, access to customers and capital, transportation—but painful fiscal reforms are needed before it can fully capitalize on these strengths. Moody’s Analytics/Economic & Consumer Credit AnalyticsMoody’s Analytics/Economic & Consumer Credit Analytics. The state is one of just a handful nationally in danger of falling back into recession.

15. Consumer Confidence Survey Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next 6 months Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index 69.0 in April 76.2 in May Those saying business conditions are “good” 17.5% in April 18.8% in May 17.2% in April 19.2% in May

16. Gallup Poll American’s dream of owning a home is alive and well, evidenced by the fact that most Americans own a home and plan to continue to do so (56%) or don’t own a home but plan on buying one in the next 10 years (25%).