ELGIN, IL—Activity in the metropolitan Chicago housing market during July reflected the impact of a dwindling supply of homes for sale, according to RE/MAX Northern Illinois. Compared to July of last year, closed sales fell 3.5% to 11,210 units, while the median sales price gained 4.2% to $250,000. Average market time for those homes fell to 66 days. “What's most remarkable is that the July market time of 66 days is the lowest result for any month since 2005 when we began tracking that data,” says Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director. “The inventory of homes for sale in the metro Chicago market tends to rise through the first half of the year, peak in July and then fall gradually. At the end of July there were 34,478 homes for sale, which is 9.6% fewer than a year earlier and 18.2% less than in July 2015.”

NEWS & NOTABLES

CHICAGO—Transwestern has just promoted Micah Larmie and Katie Sakach to newly created positions as co-leaders of the Midwest Asset Services Group. Larmie and Sakach will provide oversight and client support for Transwestern's growing Midwest management portfolio, encompassing 19 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and mixed-use assets throughout Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. “The new roles are designed to support our growth in the Midwest and elevate our client-focused approach by adding more capacity and expertise to our already talented team,” says Rob Bridges, Transwestern's executive managing director of asset services. Larmie was previously vice president and general manager of 500 W. Madison St., a 1.5 million-square-foot, class A office tower in the West Loop. She joined Transwestern in 2014. Sakach served as vice president and general manager of 200 W. Madison St., a 900,000-square-foot, class A office tower in Chicago. She joined Transwestern in 2003.

CHICAGO—Irvine Company Office Properties just appointed Gregory Tait as senior leasing director for its Chicago portfolio, which includes trophy skyscrapers One North Wacker, 300 North LaSalle and 71 South Wacker. Tait has been leasing and managing world-class office buildings for more than a decade. Prior to joining the Irvine, he spent eight years at Tishman Speyer where he handled day-to-day leasing activity for 4.5 million square-feet of Chicago office space as well as a 1.2 million square-foot high rise development site.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—RMB Capital has just signed two lease transactions in the Chicago area that company officials say will solidify their occupancy needs for the foreseeable future. The leases follow a series of mergers that has brought RMB's assets under management to $8 billion. RMB was represented in both transactions by Rick Schuham, executive vice president, director and central region lead for Savills Studley. In Downtown Chicago, RMB will relocate part of their space within 115 S. LaSalle St., its headquarters for RMB since 2007. The new combined headquarters office will encompass 25,166 square feet on the 34th and 26th floors of the building. In Oakbrook Terrace, RMB has leased 18,849 square feet of space at One Parkview Plaza, a space that was formerly occupied by an asset management firm. “The addition of the Oakbrook Terrace location will allow RMB to take advantage of existing infrastructure to extend their footprint across the region,” says Schuham.

DAYTON, OH—Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has just helped complete the sale of North Heights Plaza, a 182,453-square-foot power center located in Huber Heights, OH, a suburb of Dayton. “The center was challenged by the loss of one of the anchor tenants, HHGregg, and another anchor, Dick's Sporting Goods, was on a short-term lease,” says Craig Fuller, senior director. “Nevertheless, we demonstrated the inherent strengths of the asset to the market and sourced a strong buyer.” Fuller, Scott Wiles, senior director, and Erin Patton, senior director, represented the seller, a national real estate investment trust and procured the buyer, a private real estate investment fund. The property is located at 8280 Old Troy Pike, 7.5 miles north of downtown Dayton and directly in between Dayton International Airport and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

BY THE NUMBERS

CHICAGO—After a couple of record-breaking years, the Chicago office sales market slowed down considerably in the first half of 2017. With just 17 major sales closing, overall dollar volume dropped to its lowest point in five years, according to a new study from Commercial Café that used Yardi Matrix data. Leasing activity did stay strong throughout the period, but “ongoing company relocations and downsizing efforts are likely to push the vacancy rate higher and companies will have a rough time selling underused assets.” Chicago remains an attractive target for offshore investors, the researchers add, and “the market might get through this slump unfazed.” Sales volume dropped from $2.9 billion in the second half of 2016 to $1 billion, and the number of deals declined by more than half.

ELGIN, IL—Activity in the metropolitan Chicago housing market during July reflected the impact of a dwindling supply of homes for sale, according to RE/MAX Northern Illinois. Compared to July of last year, closed sales fell 3.5% to 11,210 units, while the median sales price gained 4.2% to $250,000. Average market time for those homes fell to 66 days. “What's most remarkable is that the July market time of 66 days is the lowest result for any month since 2005 when we began tracking that data,” says Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director. “The inventory of homes for sale in the metro Chicago market tends to rise through the first half of the year, peak in July and then fall gradually. At the end of July there were 34,478 homes for sale, which is 9.6% fewer than a year earlier and 18.2% less than in July 2015.”

NEWS & NOTABLES

CHICAGO—Transwestern has just promoted Micah Larmie and Katie Sakach to newly created positions as co-leaders of the Midwest Asset Services Group. Larmie and Sakach will provide oversight and client support for Transwestern's growing Midwest management portfolio, encompassing 19 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and mixed-use assets throughout Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. “The new roles are designed to support our growth in the Midwest and elevate our client-focused approach by adding more capacity and expertise to our already talented team,” says Rob Bridges, Transwestern's executive managing director of asset services. Larmie was previously vice president and general manager of 500 W. Madison St., a 1.5 million-square-foot, class A office tower in the West Loop. She joined Transwestern in 2014. Sakach served as vice president and general manager of 200 W. Madison St., a 900,000-square-foot, class A office tower in Chicago. She joined Transwestern in 2003.

CHICAGO—Irvine Company Office Properties just appointed Gregory Tait as senior leasing director for its Chicago portfolio, which includes trophy skyscrapers One North Wacker, 300 North LaSalle and 71 South Wacker. Tait has been leasing and managing world-class office buildings for more than a decade. Prior to joining the Irvine, he spent eight years at Tishman Speyer where he handled day-to-day leasing activity for 4.5 million square-feet of Chicago office space as well as a 1.2 million square-foot high rise development site.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—RMB Capital has just signed two lease transactions in the Chicago area that company officials say will solidify their occupancy needs for the foreseeable future. The leases follow a series of mergers that has brought RMB's assets under management to $8 billion. RMB was represented in both transactions by Rick Schuham, executive vice president, director and central region lead for Savills Studley. In Downtown Chicago, RMB will relocate part of their space within 115 S. LaSalle St., its headquarters for RMB since 2007. The new combined headquarters office will encompass 25,166 square feet on the 34th and 26th floors of the building. In Oakbrook Terrace, RMB has leased 18,849 square feet of space at One Parkview Plaza, a space that was formerly occupied by an asset management firm. “The addition of the Oakbrook Terrace location will allow RMB to take advantage of existing infrastructure to extend their footprint across the region,” says Schuham.

DAYTON, OH—Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has just helped complete the sale of North Heights Plaza, a 182,453-square-foot power center located in Huber Heights, OH, a suburb of Dayton. “The center was challenged by the loss of one of the anchor tenants, HHGregg, and another anchor, Dick's Sporting Goods, was on a short-term lease,” says Craig Fuller, senior director. “Nevertheless, we demonstrated the inherent strengths of the asset to the market and sourced a strong buyer.” Fuller, Scott Wiles, senior director, and Erin Patton, senior director, represented the seller, a national real estate investment trust and procured the buyer, a private real estate investment fund. The property is located at 8280 Old Troy Pike, 7.5 miles north of downtown Dayton and directly in between Dayton International Airport and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.