Chicago’s housing market is feeling some relief, statistics indicate. However commercial property is enduring a drearier fate.

Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows residential vacancies have gradually decreased by an average of nearly five percent since January 2009. In contrast, commercial vacancies have increased by almost the same amount. 

The decrease in vacant residential properties is thanks to two factors — the federal homeowner tax credit and a drop in housing prices due to foreclosures, said Michael van Zalingen, director of home ownership for the Neighborhood Housing Services.

“I think it’s a positive trend, but I don’t think it’s going to last,” van Zalingen said. “Interest rates are going to go up very soon on mortgages, and getting a loan will be harder and not as attractive to people anymore.”

But Mark Zipperer, owner/broker of Re/Max Edge in Wrigleyville, predicts interest rates will remain fairly stable.

As a business owner himself, Zipperer is not daunted by a greater number of vacant storefronts. “It’s survival of the fittest,” he said. “As the economy picks up, people will start becoming entrepreneurs again.”

Should businesses receive a tax credit similar to the homeowner tax credit to help them make it through the current economic crisis?

“Businesses are in the business of making money. This is a capitalist economy, and if you can’t compete, get out,” van Zalingen said. “I don’t see why the public should subsidize the business.”

Early this month, Congress extended the housing tax credit through April 30, 2010. The statute now applies to current homeowners and a higher income bracket. While the bill was passed to help maintain the housing market, Zipperer said the higher income bracket would probably purchase anyway since prices are so low.

“I think there has been too much stimulus handed out,” he said. “People need to remember that recovery doesn’t happen overnight.”

The gradual drop in residential vacancies in Chicago is seen in other major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston, according to HUD data.

“A year ago we thought the banks and GM would fail and now the Dow is up,” Zipperer said. “I’d call Obama a miracle worker.”