Skip to main content

Market Conditions: November Sales Plummet 41.3% Year Over Year

Its not like anyone in the Real Estate market needs numbers to quantify the severity of the pain, but just the same, here Crib Chatter's is a quick, dirty summary of Illinois Association of Realtors' November sales reports:

Chicago home sales continue to plunge, as November recorded the sharpest year-over-year decline in the city in 2008.

Sales of single family homes and condominiums in the city fell 41.3% in November compared to a year ago. Only 1,057 sales closed compared with 1,801 in November 2007.

The median price declined 23.3% to $222,500 compared to $290,000 in November 2007.

“The REALTOR® Association is calling upon the federal government and mortgage industry to address continuing problems that are impeding the delivery of mortgage credit to potential homebuyers.” said David Hanna, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®.

“Mortgage insurers need to make sure they have not over-corrected and added unnecessarily strict underwriting standards preventing people from qualifying for a mortgage. The lack of practical and affordable loans will continue to stymie the recovery effort.”

Sales also fell 32.3% in the 9-county Chicagoland area. Year-to-date, sales are down 26.5% in the 9-county Chicagoland area compared to the first 11 months of 2007.

64,445 homes sold through November 2008 compared to 87,624 in the same 11-month period in 2007.

Prices also declined in the 9-county Chicagoland area. Year-to-date, median price fell 4.9% to $242,000 from $254,500 in the 11-month period in 2007.

For the month of November, prices fell 15.9% to $207,745 from $247,000 in November 2007.

Are price declines accelerating?

“The housing market was stalled in November due to a deepening recession which hit our economy with blunt force this fall. No one should be surprised at these figures given what happened with the financial markets in the past few months,” said Pat Callan, broker-owner of Realty Executives Premiere in Wheaton and President of the Illinois Association of Realtors.

“Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the Federal Reserve Board’s action last week to get our economy moving again with the announcement to lower the federal funds rate.”

“The REALTOR® Association has been calling for mortgage rate reductions and recent action to drive down interest rates should be attractive to homebuyers who have been waiting on the sidelines to enter the market. With interest rates the best they have been in 50 years and peak inventory levels, there are unique buying opportunities,” he said.

Sharp Drop in Mortgage Rates Encouraging Sign for Housing Market November Illinois Home Sales Decline Statewide [Illinois Association of Realtors Press Release, Dec 23, 2008]

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PLM Title Shuttered

Title insurance is a critically important part of any real estate transaction; or at least it should be. The title company guaranties the "quality" of an owners interest in the property - that there aren't any (unknown) liens or defects. No buyer that I work for will purchase a property without it. Title insurance is only as good as the insurer. We want to know that the insurance company, like the Rock of Gibraltar , will always be there. We want to sleep easy at night, knowing that the client is protected. That said, it was a bit distressing to see that PLM Title Company shut its doors, without any forewarning last week. Worse still, this morning's news is that there is a criminal investigation underway - and that we do not yet know why. Old timers like me shudder with memories of the great Intercounty Title debacle five years ago. Here's to hoping that this one is nothing like that one. Set aside the problems involved trying to make a claim against a defun...
6 comments
Read more

FHA Loans and Condo Sales - Is Relief on the Way?

By all outward appearances, state government in Illinois has ground to a complete halt, with all eyes focused on the Governor's "problem" and all the related fal - der -rah. Its hardly business as usual in Springfield, but not everything has ground to a halt. Several new bills have been introduced this week. That is not to say that they will be of benefit to we the people. Nonetheless, the cogs and gears are turning, and we are hoping for the best. One such proposal comes from Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago's west side, who is himself a real estate broker and entrepreneur . He is the author of House Bill 155 , introduced & referred to the Rules Committee Wednesday. It seeks to address one of the most common problems I am seeing in condominium resale transactions these days; the tension between many Declarations of Condominium and FHA loan guidelines. Many Condo Declarations provide Associations with a "right of first refusal," which basically allows t...
3 comments
Read more

MAYOR DALEY PROPOSES TIF FINANCING FOR SOME DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

Lets see how City Council reacts on this one, but the Mayor introduced a pretty interesting little ordinance that might be a real boon to first time area home buyers willing to buy and rehabilitate some bank-owned properties. Progress Illinois reports that the mayor's bill, introduced on March 9: "seeks to tackle the growing problem of vacant homes that are blighting neighborhoods across Chicago, and in particular in minority communities. Called the Vacant Building TIF Purchase and Rehabilitation Ordinance, the  bill  (PDF) proposes allowing residents with a household income no greater than 100 percent of the regional median income to apply for a tax increment financing (TIF) grant that would pay for up to 25 percent of the cost of purchasing and rehabilitating an empty residential property. Single-family empty homes or units in condo and cooperative buildings with four units or fewer are eligible. The empty homes must be located in a TIF district and must be in need of...
Post a Comment
Read more