Good News, Bad News From Housing Stats
July 30th, 2010 categories: Chicago Real Estate News
When the Illinois Association of REALTORS® releases its monthly housing statistics these days you can count on a mix of good and bad news. It’s just that kind of economy.
That’s exactly what we got in late July when the association released its numbers for June. Depending on how you looked at them, the June sales numbers for Chicago were either good or bad news.
First, the good: June total home sales, which include single-family and condominium sales, rose 27.5 percent in Chicago when compared to the same month one year earlier. There were 2,526 home sales in the city of Chicago in June this year compared to 1,981 home sales in the same month in 2009.
Now for the bad news, at least for sellers: The city of Chicago’s median sales price in June fell to $234,250. That’s down 3.2 percent from June of last year, when the median price stood at $242,050.
These remain tough times for sellers who bought their homes during the peak years of the housing boom. If these sellers have to move their homes today, if they have no other choice but to sell, the odds are good that they’ll have to take a loss on the sale. Housing prices have just fallen too far from the peak pricing days of 2005 and 2006.
If you’re one of these owners who has no choice but to sell, make sure to work with a skilled REALTOR®. A REALTOR® can help you price your condominium or single-family home properly. If you price your home too high for your market, you’ll scare away potential buyers and your property will sit on the market forever (until you adjust the price to be more reflective of reality).
It’s never been easy to sell a home. Today, though, is one of the most challenging selling markets I’ve ever seen. Sellers who don’t price their homes properly will struggle when it comes to landing solid offers.
