Both the National Association of Realtors and the Illinois Association of Realtors released data on Thursday comparing June of ’07 to June of ’08 real estate sales and what we saw was not pretty. 

 

Illinois reported sales volume (number of homes sold) for the Chicago metro area were down nearly 28% with the median sales price slipping 3.3%.  

 

I broke out the numbers for Naperville and found us none the better. In fact we’re a bit worse off. Using sales data from the MLS I found that our sales volume was down 35% and our median sales price slipped nearly 10%!  

 

Now before everyone begins to panic, let’s look at the numbers a little differently.  We’ll start with our median sales price. June of ’07 was the highest in the past two years.  If you look back, June of ’08 was actually a 1.5% increase compared to the same month two years ago (when the market supposedly peaked). The most likely reason would be the slow down in the high end of the market.  Homes under $500,000 have had the strongest demand and have not seen as much of a decline.

 

Next let’s look at our sales volume decrease. The number of homes selling has certainly slipped.  It’s difficult to spin that into a positive. But if you look at the monthly sales for the first half of ’07 and this year, you’ll see the two years are following the same trend with this year posting lesser numbers.

 

This data just tells us what we already know, the market is slow.  If you don’t have to sell don’t. And if you do, make sure your home is priced to sell.  This is not the time to test the market. On the flip side, now is defiantly the time to buy.  

Tuesday the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released sales numbers for February and nearly everyone was surprised. Expectations were for another reported loss in sales, but nationwide sales rose 2.9% from January to February, the first rise in sales in seven months! 

 

The downside to this good news was that, although volume increased, prices decreased. The NAR also reported national real estate prices declined 8.2%, the largest drop on record.

 

Although some people are saying that the market has bottomed, it seems the general feeling is one of cautious optimism. These numbers show that seller’s are finally accepting that the market has changed and their house may not be worth what it was a year or two ago. The low interest rates are still attractive to buyers and the tighter lending restrictions aren’t necessarily a bad thing for sellers. Yes the tighter restrictions will keep some buyers out of the market but the ones that are able to get a loan are able to because they have good credit and money to put down. Translated, that’s a strong buyer.

 

Locally, the nine county Chicago area had an increase in sales volume of about 10% and Illinois as a whole, about 15%.  Let’s hope that March can continue the up tick.