Archive for the 'For Homeowners' Category
December Numbers Provide Strong Finish To Chicago Home Sales In 2011
January 25th, 2012 categories: Chicago Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, FSBO's, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Housing Market
Though 2011 wasn’t the strongest year for Chicago existing-home sales — they were actually down 7.2 percent from 2010 — December, at least, closed the year off strong.
According to the latest home sales numbers from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®, December, 2011, existing-home sales in Chicago hit 1,536, up 6.4 percent from the 1,444 homes sold in the same month one year earlier.
The news wasn’t as good when it came to the median sales prices of these homes. According to the association’s numbers, the median home sale price for Chicago stood at $156,000 in December of last year. That’s down 6.2 percent when compared to the same month in 2010. Back then, the median sales price of Chicago homes came in at $166,250.
Bob Floss, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, was quoted in the press release accompanying the December numbers as saying that the December rally was a good sign for the future of Chicago housing sales. The numbers give hope that Chicago’s winter and spring home-selling seasons will be strong ones, he said.
Floss, though, expressed concerns about the median sales price of Chicago condominiums and single-family homes. This number shows no sign of rising, and, in fact, continues to fall. Floss pointed to the large number of distressed residential properties on the market: Foreclosures tend to drag down the median sales prices of homes near them.
Until the number of foreclosures falls, don’t expect the median sales price of Chicago residential properties to rise.
The association press release also quotes Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. She says that buyers in December simply found too many good housing deals to pass up.
That’s good news, of course, for sellers trying to move their properties. It’s not great news, though, for sellers trying to get top dollar for their homes. Buyers today simply expect to find bargains on the condos and single-family homes that they purchase.
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Expecting A Better Chicago Economy In 2012? Think Again
January 6th, 2012 categories: Chicago Info/News, Chicago Neighborhoods, Chicago News, Chicago Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers
Crain’s Chicago Business gave Chicago residents hoping for a better economic year in 2012 little reason for optimism. According to Crain’s, the Chicago economy will improve in 2012, but at a slower-than-optimal rate.
Crain’s quoted numbers from Moody’s Analytics saying that the Chicago-area economy should grow by about 1.6 percent in the first half of 2012 and by about 2 percent for the full year. These numbers sound positive until you consider that six months ago Moody’s predicted that the Chicago-area economy would grow by about 4 percent in 2012.
Crain’s points to the economic uncertainty caused by unstable financial markets and European debt worries. This, the story says, has made employers overly cautious when making new job hires.
Because of this, Moody’s is predicting that the unemployment rate in the Chicago area will jump to 11.4 percent in the first half of 2012. That’s up from 10.6 percent in the second half of 2011. Six months ago, Moody’s predicted that the Chicago-area unemployment rate would stand at 9.2 percent in the first half of 2012.
This is bad news, too, for the Chicago housing market. Buyers won’t be as willing to invest in a new home if they’re still worried about losing their jobs. And as Moody’s numbers show, Chicagoans have little reason to be optimistic about the safety of their jobs.
Just because a new year has started, it doesn’t mean that Chicago, and the rest of the nation, don’t still face serious challenges. Until unemployment finally falls, expect the Chicago housing market to struggle.
This latest news points out once again how important it is for home sellers to work with a skilled REALTOR® to set the right price for their condominiums or single-family homes. Buyers today are smart; they won’t overpay for a home. Those sellers who do set an unrealistic asking price will see their residence sit on the market for months, ignored by today’s savvy home buyers.
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Housing Foreclosures Rise Again In The Chicago Area
December 22nd, 2011 categories: Chicago Info/News, Economic Recovery, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Foreclosures, Housing Market
The number of housing foreclosures fell throughout the United States. But locally in the Chicago area, housing foreclosures actually rose.
According to a recent feature story in the Chicago Tribune, the number of homes in the foreclosure process rose 20 percent in November in Cook County when compared to one month earlier. The Tribune said that much of this increase stemmed from a jump of 57 percent in the number of homes in the county that were sent to court-ordered auctions.
Citing data from online foreclosure company RealtyTrac, the Tribune reported that foreclosure filings were reported on more than 224,000 properties across the United States in November. That’s a drop of 3 percent from October.
No matter how you look at the numbers there are too many housing foreclosures in Chicago and the United States. This is unfortunate because foreclosure has such a devastating effect on families.
If you’re struggling to pay your mortgage bills each month, call your mortgage lender immediately. The sooner you call your lender, the better your chances of working out a new payment arrangement, a reduction in your mortgage loan’s interest rate or some other way to avoid losing your home through foreclosure.
I understand that this is no easy thing, calling your mortgage lender and explaining that you’re struggling to pay your monthly housing bills. But lenders will often work with you to find some solution to your mortgage woes.
Foreclosures remain the number-one deterrent to a housing market rebound, both in Chicago and across the nation. Foreclosures make it more difficult for sellers to get the prices they want for their homes. Buyers would rather pay $50,000 less for a similar home down the street that’s gone through the foreclosure process.
If you don’t want to become the latest foreclosure statistic, call your lender. Ignoring your mortgage problems won’t help them go away.
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Some Tips For Chicagoans Relying On Gifts To Cover Their Down Payments
December 21st, 2011 categories: FSBO's, For Buyers, For Homeowners
The days of mortgage lenders offering home loans with no down payment requirements are long gone. Today, buyers financing their homes must come up with down payments.
It’s little surprise, then, that many buyers — especially first-time buyers — are getting help from family members or friends to cover their down payment requirements.
A story by the Wall Street Journal reported that 27 percent of first-time buyers in 2010 received a financial gift from a friend or family member to use toward their down payments. That figure is up from 22 percent in 2009 and 23 percent in 2005, according to numbers from the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Wall Street Journal story quoted a mortgage adviser from Chicago who explained that a 10 percent down payment on a modest Chicago condominium or single-family home could come to $30,000 to $40,000. That’s a lot of money for first-time home buyers to scrape together.
Of course, there are options for buyers seeking lower down payments. Buyers with solid credit can qualify for FHA mortgage loans that come with down payment requirements of just 3.5 percent.
Those working with traditional mortgage loans, though, will often have to make a down payment of 10 percent to 20 percent of a home’s purchase price. Again, in big cities such as Chicago, that’s hardly a small sum of money.
The Wall Street Journal story provided some good advice for buyers who are relying partly on gifts to finance their down payment. Freddie Mac requires buyers to provide at closing funds equal to at least 5 percent of the home’s purchase price if the loan-to-value ratio is greater than 80 percent and a relative or friend provides a gift to help with the cost of the down payment.
The Journal story also says that buyers must properly document their down payment gifts. For instance, if a buyer’s bank account suddenly jumps from $10,000 to $15,000 thanks to a gift from a family member, the loan officer handling the loan will want to see a gift letter. This letter should provide the giver’s name, address and telephone number. The Journal also reported that the letter should spell out the relationship between the buyer and the person providing the gift.
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“Good” News, Bad News Regarding The Chicago Housing Market
December 6th, 2011 categories: Chicago Neighborhoods, Chicago Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, For Buyers, For Homeowners
The Chicago Tribune in late November brought both good and bad news for Chicago homeowners in the same story, covering reports showing that home prices in the Chicago area fell in September but that the number of local owners underwater on their mortgage loans also dipped.
First, the prices: According to the latest findings from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, home prices in the Chicago area dropped 0.8 percent in September when compared to August. They were also down 5 percent when compared to September of 2010.
Prices in the Chicago area today are at levels the area last saw in the spring of 2002, according to the Tribune story.
The “better” news? The Tribune also reported on the latest numbers from CoreLogic that showed that 24.9 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage in the Chicago area owed more on their loans than what their residences were worth at the end of September.
That number isn’t great. But it is better than the 25.2 percent of homeowners who were underwater on their mortgage loans at the end of the second quarter of this year.
Still, even with that slight improvement, 383,625 residences in the Chicago area were underwater on their mortgage loans at the end of September. Obviously, that number is far too high, especially considering nationally that only 22.1 percent of all residential properties with mortgage loans were underwater at the end of the same month, according to CoreLogic.
Both sets of numbers show that the housing market in Chicago, as in the rest of the nation, has a long way to go before it can be considered healthy again. The good news is for buyers: Home prices in the City, even in traditionally attractive neighborhoods such as Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square, remain affordable. Buyers today can find great bargains on good properties in the best locations.
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