Like a Fine Wine, Chicago Home Values Increase With Age
September 12th, 2008 categories: Chicago Info/News, Chicago News, Chicago Real Estate News, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Housing Market
There’s a reason we in the residential real estate business complain that the media doesn’t cover the housing market properly: Reporters don’t seem to understand the fundamental truth that all real estate is local.
Here’s what we mean: Just because home values have plummeted in Miami or Las Vegas, that doesn’t mean the same has happened here in Chicago. Unfortunately, too much of the national media cover the housing story as if the United States featured just one giant residential real estate market.
This is inaccurate. It’s misleading. And, unfortunately, it encourages potential buyers to stay on the sidelines and causes sellers too many sleepless nights.
It is true that home values in Chicago have dropped from their peak value, as defined by real estate information provider Zillow, of $267,799 in the second quarter of 2006. But our housing values have dropped nowhere near as significantly as they have in other markets across the country.
According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Report, home values in Chicago dropped 5.7 percent in the second quarter of 2008 when compared to the same period one year earlier.
That may sound like bad news. But consider that nationally, home values decreased 9.9 percent during this same period, and you see that the Chicago market is actually far healthier than are most.
Consider this, too: According to Zillow, homes in Chicago actually have appreciated by 3.3 percent over the last five years and 6.9 percent during the last 10 years. This shows that owners, if they hold onto their homes for a significant enough period of time, will still make money when they sell them.
So next time you hear the gloom-and-doom report from the news media, turn off the TV or spin the dial. Things aren’t nearly so bad here in your home town.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROPERTIES NOT YET ON THE MARKET.
