But Chicago has weathered the economic crisis about as well as any big city. And new numbers regarding the city’s downtown business district back me up on this.

Crain’s Chicago Business recently reported on new data provided by Baum Realty Group that show that the Loop’s storefront businesses are actually doing pretty well, despite the dismal economy.

According to the report, the Loop’s storefront vacancy rate actually dropped in 2009, falling to 7.8 percent last year from 13 percent in 2008. At the same time, the number of new deals rose. The Baum report said that 57 storefronts opened in 2009. That compares favorably with 2008, when 53 storefronts opened.

And in good news for building owners, average asking rents in 2009 rose 3 percent to $60.56 a square foot.

Of course, the report didn’t bring only good news. The number of new storefronts in the Loop paled in comparison to the 91 that opened in 2007 and the 99 that came in 2006. Of course, those businesses opened before anyone realized just how powerful of a recession the country would experience.

The Loop numbers give me even more hope that Chicago is coming out of the recession and will be stronger than ever. They also give me hope that the local housing market’s recovery will only continue.

We’ve already seen housing sales increase throughout much of the latter part of 2009 and into 2010. I understand that the Loop is only one small part of our city. But it’s an important part. And a vibrant downtown shopping district, filled with restaurants, shops and theaters, is one reason why people want to live in Chicago.

When you’re fortunate enough to live in a city as diverse and strong as Chicago, you can always take comfort in one fact: Yes, we will experience economic down times. But the city is strong enough to always survive them.

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According to the Tribune story, the number of unmarried single buyers has been on the rise since the Chicago housing market first began booming about seven years ago. Since then, there have been twice as many single female buyers as there have been single males.

The Tribune cites data from the National Association of REALTORS® that says that for the fiscal year ended in June, single buyers accounted for 38 percent of all home purchases in the Chicago area. And single women accounted for 26 percent of these sales.

In Chicago itself, not counting the suburbs, 44 percent of buyers for the 12 months ended in June were single, the REALTORS® association data said. Single females accounted for 29 percent of the condominium and single-family home sales in Chicago during the 12-month period.

That’s higher than the national average, where single women accounted for 21 percent of all home purchases. Nationally, single men accounted for just 10 percent of home sales.

These numbers don’t surprise me. After all, Chicago is a great place for singles of any gender to live. Every neighborhood in the city boasts its own character, and the trendiest, places like Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and Lakeview are alive with high-end restaurants, independent theaters, hip shops and busy nightspots.

At the same time, housing in Chicago’s top neighborhoods is affordable today. The city’s average median sales price is down from last year, and down even more significantly from where it stood just three years ago. This means that single buyers suddenly have more sales power. Many of them can also take advantage (for the time being, at least) of the federal government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000.

No, the fact that Chicago is attracting single buyers doesn’t surprise me at all. In fact, I’d be more surprised if the number of single buyers went down.

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A local real estate company reported that distressed properties accounted for at least 34 percent of home sales reported in the Chicago area in 2009.

This continues a trend that started in late 2007. And it’s not one unique to Chicago. As the nation’s economy began to falter, a growing number of homeowners lost their jobs or saw their annual incomes plummet. Many of these homeowners suddenly began struggling to make their mortgage payments for the first time in their lives.

In 2009, U.S. households received 2.8 million foreclosure filings, according to online real estate data company RealtyTrac. This figure represents an all-time high for the country.

It’s little surprise, then, that so many of the Chicago area’s housing sales last year were of foreclosed and distressed properties. Fortunately, there is help for homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage bills. The federal government in 2009 launched its Home Affordable Modification Program, which provides financial incentives to encourage mortgage lenders and banks to somehow lower the monthly mortgage payments of struggling homeowners.

If you are having difficulty making your mortgage payments, call your mortgage lender immediately. Even if your lender isn’t participating in the federal program, it might still be willing to modify your mortgage loan. After all, your lender does not benefit from seeing you lose your home to foreclosure.

I’m glad that home sales seem to be rising steadily these days. But I’ll be even happier when a much smaller percentage of these sales comes from distressed properties.

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The HousingWire news service reported on Feb. 19 that Chicago real estate developer Belgravia Realty Group managed to sell 50 condominiums in just four weeks recently by cutting prices on units at its 565 Quincy project in the Loop by as much as 30 percent.

This made a big impact in the downtown condo market, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, the Chicago commercial appraisal firm quoted in the story. The company said that sales at 565 W. Quincy accounted for 79 percent of all new-construction sales in downtown Chicago since the first of the year.

565 W. Quincy, located at the intersection of Jefferson St. and Jackson Blvd. in downtown Chicago, provides an important point about the current state of Chicago’s downtown condominium market: Sales may be going up, but developers are slashing asking prices to fuel the jump.

It’s a good lesson for condo owners in the city, too. If you have to sell your condo in today’s residential market, make sure to meet with a skilled REALTOR® before you list your unit. A REALTOR® who knows your neighborhood and its localized real estate market will be able to help you set the right initial asking price for your unit.

Buyers today still have a lot of inventory from which to choose. This is especially true when it comes to condominium units in downtown Chicago. There are simply too many unsold units clogging the market. To sell a unit today, then, you have to do everything you can to set yours apart from your competitors. The best way to do this, still, is by offering the best price for your unit.

If you try pricing your downtown Chicago condo at an asking price that is too high for the current market, the odds are great that your unit will sit for months without attracting any solid offers. Price it right, though, and you greatly increase your chances to move your unit.

Belgravia knows this lesson. It’s one that all condo sellers should learn, too.

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The latest blow came last week, when Forbes Magazine released its latest version of its list of America’s Most Miserable Cities. Chicago ranked 10th on the list, a bit of an improvement from the 2009 list, when our city came in at third.

Personally, I find such lists to be silly. Sure, they get people talking. My colleagues and I were debating the merits of Chicago’s spot on the list the day the news broke. But, really, such lists are hardly scientific. And in Chicago’s case, “researchers” aren’t taking into account all of the things that make our city so great.

For instance, there’s the amazing Millennium Park. There’s the Magnificent Mile, Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, the Museum of Science & Industry, Alinea Restaurant, the Steppenwolf Theatre … I could go on forever. How could a city with so many terrific places be the 10th most miserable in the country?

Granted, the survey does take weather into account, and no one around Chicago is too happy with the weather these days. Then there’s unemployment, which, of course, is high right now in Chicago. But there aren’t many cities across the country in which residents aren’t worried about losing their jobs.

To reassure myself that, despite what the editors at Forbes might think, people really do love our city, I just have to look at the growing number of real estate transactions I’m handling these days in neighborhoods like Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Wicker Park. People are seeking out condos and single-family homes in these areas because they’re impressed with how much in entertainment, dining and shopping these areas have to offer. They also know that real estate in these neighborhoods, despite the housing slump, tends to retain its value.

For the record, Cleveland topped Forbes’ list of miserable cities this year. The city reached the top because of high unemployment, lousy weather, equally lousy sports teams and corrupt public officials. Some of that does sound familiar to Chicago residents, I suppose. (Right, Blagojevich?) But most of the other cities on Forbes’ list simply can’t compare to Chicago when it comes to amenities and housing values.

In short, there is no way Chicago belongs on the magazine’s list.

Problem is, Zillow isn’t always accurate when it comes to housing prices. I’ve found that the market reports from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® are usually a far better gauge of how the Chicago housing market is performing.

That said, it can be fun to use Zillow to check out the average housing value of homes in your city. And the site is useful for determining housing trends: You’ll be able to tell, for instance, if home values rose or fell from one month to the next, and by about how much.

That’s why the fourth quarter markets report released earlier this month by Zillow is an interesting read. The news for Chicago? It’s good for buyers, not as great for sellers.

According to the report, home values in Chicago dropped 9.9 percent from December of 2008 to the same month in 2009. Zillow lists the average value of a Chicago home at $200,900 in December of 2009. For the entire Chicago region, which also includes the suburbs, the average value of a home stood at $197,400.

What does all this mean for buyers and sellers? For sellers, it means that you really do have to be careful when setting the price of your residence. If you price it too high, you’ll struggle to sell; buyers can simply find better bargains from another seller. Your best move is to meet with a skilled REALTOR® who knows real estate prices in your neighborhood. This real estate professional can help you set the best price for your home.

For buyers, the Zillow report is actually good news. You can still find a reasonably priced house in Chicago, even if you’re looking for a condominium or single-family home in such hot neighborhoods as Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Lakeview or Wicker Park.

Of course, you shouldn’t take the Zillow report as gospel. You’ll find that Chicago homes in top locations in trendy neighborhoods will usually sell for far more than $200,900. This doesn’t mean that the Zillow report isn’t interesting reading, or that it doesn’t highlight local housing trends. It’s best, though, to rely on a REALTOR®’s information when trying to determine whether a home is a good bargain or slightly overpriced.

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But more and more, the local housing numbers are backing up my optimism.

For instance, Crain’s Chicago Business last week reported that the sales of condominiums in downtown Chicago rose in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is especially significant, as city condo sales dropped dramatically as the Chicago real estate slump worsened. To see condo sales rising, even slightly, is as good a reason as any for optimism.

The Crain’s story, of course, wasn’t all good news. It’s true that builders sold 148 condominiums and townhomes in downtown Chicago during the last three months of 2009. And it’s also true that this number is a nice increase from the 56 condo and townhome sales made in downtown Chicago in the third quarter of the year.

But Crain’s does throw in some sobering news: The story quotes researchers from Chicago’s Appraisal Research Counselors who say that the Chicago condo market won’t make a true rebound until the local unemployment numbers fall. The story also says that the number of condo sales won’t rise more dramatically until local buyers gain faith that the prices of downtown condominiums will no longer continue to drop.

Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research, said it best when she was quoted as saying that Chicago buyers still have to be convinced that the local housing market has finally bottomed out and that housing prices will soon start to appreciate at a faster rate.

Still, it’s hard not to get excited by these latest Chicago housing numbers. I’m still confident, in fact, that next year we’ll look back at 2010 as the start of our city’s housing recovery. I’m not sure when, or if, downtown condo sales will again approach the sales numbers they registered during the days of the housing boom. But I am confident that buyers will begin purchasing these units again. Downtown Chicago is simply too enticing and strong of an area for it not to feature a condo revival.

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It was a sobering statistic, especially considering how important home equity is to the wealth of most U.S. homeowners. You’d think from news like this that the total value of U.S. homeowners’ home equity would have plummeted during the recession and housing slump.

Surprisingly, though, you’d be wrong.

Syndicated real estate columnist Ken Harney recently reported on the fact that the net equity of U.S. homeowners actually grew from the first quarter of 2009 through the third quarter of that same year. It grew, in fact, by nearly $1 trillion during this period. Harney also reports that it grew by $418 billion from June 30 of 2009 through Sept. 30 of the same year.

These numbers pale in comparison to the way home equity grew during the boom years of the housing industry. But Harney points out that the most recent data suggest something positive: Prior to this report, the net equity of U.S. homeowners fell for three straight years. Perhaps the rising numbers, even if they aren’t rising as quickly as some would like, are more proof that the worst of the U.S. housing slump is over.

As far as I’m concerned, the numbers are positive. And these aren’t the only positive ones I’ve seen lately suggesting that the housing market, both locally and nationally, is finally on a rebound. Home sales continued to rise during the second half of 2009, both in Chicago and across the United States. At the same time, Crain’s Chicago Business recently wrote that even downtown Chicago condo sales rose in the fourth quarter of 2009, and that market had suffered greatly during the housing slump.

I’m not suggesting that the country’s housing market has recovered fully. But I do believe that numbers such as those showing that home equity has risen are a good sign that not only has the recovery begun, but that it’s picking up steam.

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The Chicago association holds its economic forecast every year. As you can guess, the last few have been quite gloomy. This year’s, though, had a different air about it: Attendees and speakers seemed to think that the worst days of the local residential real estate market were behind us.

I agree. When I look at the second half of 2009, I see a local housing market in recovery mode. Chicago condominium, townhouse and single-family home sales rebounded quite nicely even as summer turned to fall and fall turned to winter. All signs are that housing sales will continue to rise as the 2010 spring selling season arrives.  Prices, however, will not rise.

The economic forecast is not only a good event at which to gauge the mood of my fellow REALTORS®, it’s also a time to look back at the year that was.

At the most recent economic forecast, we learned that 51 percent of Illinois buyers in 2009 were first-time buyers. These buyers had an average age of 29 and boasted a median annual household income of $64,400. Repeat buyers in the state had a median annual household income of $92,800.

Detached single-family homes accounted for 67 percent of the home purchases in Illinois last year. Buyers said that they generally sold their homes for 95 percent of their listing price. That would rank as a solid figure if 58 percent of sellers hadn’t also reduced their listing price at least once before selling their homes.

Podmolik also pointed out a rather grim statistic: In Chicago last year, an astounding 50 percent of single-family home sales and 18 percent of condominium sales were either short sales or foreclosures last year. Those are two numbers that simply must fall in 2010.

I think I speak for everyone when I say “good riddance” to 2009. One last look at the year is all I can take. I have a feeling, though, that when the Chicago REALTORS® hold their 2011 economic forecast, we’ll have much fonder memories of 2010.

1.    Nielsen Research reported that nine out of 10 U.S. households planned to watch this year’s clash between the Colts and Saints at their own homes or at a friend’s instead of at a bar or restaurant.

2.    Only 5 percent of consumers said they expect to spend more on food and beverages for the Super Bowl this year than last.

These two numbers suggest one thing: Consumers are still being frugal with their money. They’re still not spending freely. And who can blame them? Many of them are still worried about losing their jobs.

What does all this mean for the Chicago residential real estate market? Well, if consumers are as interested in saving money as they say they are, they’ll find that now is a terrific time to buy a condominium or single-family home in Chicago.

The median sales price of homes in even the top city neighborhoods, places like Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square and Wicker Park, is down significantly from just one year ago. The Illinois Association of REALTORS® reported that the year-end median price for a Chicago home in 2009 stood at $225,000. That’s down a solid 22.4 percent from 2008, when the year-end median price stood at $290,000.

Buyers have traditionally returned in droves to the residential real estate market after the Super Bowl. It’s as if the big game marks the unofficial end of the winter-holiday season. What about this year, though? This is still an unusual market, what with the national unemployment rate still uncomfortably high. Will Chicago buyers start looking in earnest for new townhomes, condominiums or single-family homes now that the game is over?

I think they will. It’s just too good of a time to buy. If the buyers do come out, they’ll find some terrific bargains. And if we’re to believe the statisticians at Nielsen, that should be enough to provide yet another boost to our local housing market’s young recovery.

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