URBALO

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A $40 billion tax bill signed into law Wednesday by President Bush extends several popular tax breaks and introduces a new one - tax-deductibility of private mortgage insurance (PMI).

Only homeowners with adjusted gross income less than $110,000 and who itemize their deductions will be eligible to reap the benefit.

But for those buyers, it will change the math of buying a house with a low or no down payment.

"I love it," says mortgage broker Bob Moulton of Americana Mortgage Group, "Even though it's limited in who can qualify, it helps people get into a home."

Most lenders require buyers putting less than 20 percent down to purchase PMI because borrowers are more likely to walk away from a mortgage when they have less of their own money invested in the property. Lenders use PMI to protect themselves against that risk.

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New homes sold at an annual pace of 1.05 million, up from the revised annual rate of 1.01 million in October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that home sales would rebound to a 1.02 million pace.

he median average home price came in at $251,700 in November, up from the $248,500 level in October. The median price, that is, the point at which half the homes sell for more and half sell for less, had shown declines earlier in the fall because of a glut of homes available for sale on the market.

The supply of completed new homes available for sale continued to creep up, setting yet another record at 169,000. But all new homes available for sale, which includes those with permits but not yet started as well as those under construction, was slightly lower. That took the inventory of new homes on the market down to an estimated 6.3 months' supply in November, compared to 6.7 months in October and 7.2 months in July, when new home sales slowed to a crawl.

The median price is now back to the second-highest level on record, trailing only the $257,000 level reached in April of this year.

And while the pace of home sales is down 15.3 percent from the white-hot sales rate of a year ago, it's up nearly 7 percent from the trough hit in July of this year, when revised figures put the annual sales pace at just below a million.

The pace of sales in November would have been a record high as recently as December 2002, before the building boom seen in 2003 through 2005.

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dedicated to giving information about buying, selling, and investing in residential real estate in Chicago.

A new TV show is being aired on Channel 25 in Chicago, which is broadcast to 400,000 households. It’s called “LorrainesChicago” and it’s an informative, energetic and stimulating half-hour show produced by Lorraine Denham, Realtor, Coldwell Banker.

“LorrainesChicago” airs every Wednesday at 11:30PM, and Thursdays at 6:30PM. Lorraine is in the Top Ten of agents, and working in the #1 Coldwell Banker office in the country, so she has alot to say about Chicago real estate.

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Two of the most coveted assignments in Chicago real estate are up for grabs. The owners of Sears Tower said Tuesday they are parting ways with the firm responsible for its leasing and management.

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. has handled those tasks for the nation’s tallest building since 2004. The owners said the agreement with CB expires at the end of 2006, but that the firm will stay on until a replacement  is found.

The owners and CB described the parting as mutually decided and amicable. But it comes as the 110-story tower has suffered financial setbacks. Industry data show that about 21 percent of the tower is vacant, double the reported figure in early 2004.

In addition, the owners made a financially disastrous move earlier this year when they stopped Levy Restaurants Inc. from operating four locations inside the tower, 233 S. Wacker. They filed a lawsuit against their new restaurant operator, Sodexho USA, charging that they ran up $1.1 million in losses in just seven months. The restaurants are closed.

One of the Sears owners, John Huston, principal of Skokie-based American Landmark Properties Ltd., could not be reached. In a press release, Huston praised CB’s tenure.

"Together, we’ve increased Skydeck revenues, developed a robust office leasing program, reduced expenses and enhanced security," he said. CB is the largest real estate firm in Chicago.

Other owners include New York investors Joseph Chetrit and Joseph Moinian. Their 2004 acquisition valued the building at $840 million, and they are negotiating a refinancing with several funding sources.

Without discussing vacancy rates, the Sears owners said 250,000 square feet of new leases have been signed for the building in the last two years. The building contains about 3.8 million square feet.

Some leasing experts have said the owners need to cut rents more to woo tenants to a tower that acquired a stigma after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Zillow story can’t stay down. The New York Times weighing in, saying that the complaint is racially motivated.

Zillow.com, the Web site that provides free home valuations, has been accused by a coalition of community activist groups of undervaluing the homes in black and Latino neighborhoods.

And Zillow’s best defense is, “Our system is inaccurate all over,” only slightly mitigated by their other defense, “These numbers aren’t serious estimates.”

When you put it that way, that’s not much of defense.