Chicago Condo Sales are Down

Chicago Condo Sales are Down
I read this report about the area market, since the news is very quite about housing these days the numbers are adding up. Please let us bottom out soon. We would love a great 2011 in Real Estate.
From Crain’s:

“We’re just continuing to plod along,” says Appraisal Research Vice-president Gail Lissner.
A recovery could be years away, but developers, with 406 sales in the first six months of the year, are still ahead of their pace in 2009, when they sold just 572 units during the whole year.
That’s still a fraction of the 8,162 units downtown developers sold in 2005, before the housing bubble burst and the economy plunged into its deepest recession since the 1930s.
“With the tax credit expired, continued concerns about the economy and job market, worries about the stability of housing prices, and the difficulty in selling an existing residence and securing financing, many buyers continue to remain on the sidelines for the near term,” the Appraisal Research report says.

Belgravia Group’s President and CEO Alan Lev echoed what many have chattered about here: it’s going to be a LONG time before any new condo towers are constructed.

Mr. Lev expects that it will be five to 10 years before a developer breaks ground on a major downtown condo tower. In the meantime, Belgravia is scouting for distressed uncompleted condo projects that it can buy at a discount and finish itself.
The developer, for instance, is acquiring 18 out of 34 unsold units in a vintage condominium conversion in Lakeview and plans to offer them for about $300,000 to $500,000 apiece, down from the original developer’s $500,000 to $700,000.
“That’s the kind of stuff we’re going to be doing for a couple years,” Mr. Lev says. “You won’t have us developers to kick around.”

Downtown condo sales lag as tax credits end [Crain’s Chicago Business, Alby Gallun, August 16, 2010]

Finally the high end market is heading south.

Finally the high end market is heading south.


At this time of year when we are heading back to school,our real estate market usually starts to heat up. With this report in the paper,I am thinking that the fall market will be soft. There are not enough new jobs being created for the homeowner to get excited about moving up. Clearly Du Page County is taking the biggest hit and Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, and Burr Ridge are facing many more short sales homes in the coming months. Buyers are you interested in purchasing a good deal?

From the New York Times Chicago News Cooperative:

“In the first half of 2010, the largest increases in new foreclosures occurred in the region’s middle- and higher-income communities,” according to a report this month by the Woodstock Institute, which tracks housing trends in the region.
Du Page County was hardest hit in the Chicago metropolitan area, with a 74.8 percent increase in new filings in the first six months of 2010; Lake County, home to Lake Forest, was second, with a 64.9 percent jump. But in Lake Forest, the increase in the number of foreclosures was a jarring 78.9 percent.
An examination of real estate transactions in Lake Forest through the end of July found that of the 127 houses sold this year, 18 of them, or 14 percent, were either in foreclosure or were transferred on so-called short sales — that is, when the selling price falls short of the amount owed on the mortgage.

Far from poor, real estate woes nip at Lake Forest [New York Times Chicago News Cooperative, Tom Hundley, August 7, 2010]

Cook County Assessor's Office facing the 2010 Market

Cook County Assessor's Office facing the 2010 Market
In this report I am getting the picture that we are not out of the declining market yet. The Assessor's office released this about the foreclosure status in Cook county. In 2010 will we see any upswing? I do not think we will until 2011.

From the Tribune:

“The market is still having problems,” said Fran Lefor, a senior research analyst at the assessor’s office. “But if you’re not in foreclosure, things are not as bad as you might think. It’s good news if you don’t have a house in foreclosure. It’s bad news if you’re a bank.”
The study found that 35.2 percent of the 8,092 residential property sales completed during the first quarter were foreclosure-related transactions, and the $88,500 median price was a 21 percent drop from a year ago.
But in the traditional market for the county as a whole, the number of properties sold rose almost 49 percent, and the median price fell only 6.7 percent, to $231,000, from 2009’s first quarter. The median means half the homes are sold for more and half for less.
The assessor’s data includes all sales within the county, not just those reported to the local multiple listing service. The most dramatic year-over-year price changes were found in Chicago, where the 2010 first-quarter median price fell 6.5 percent, to $252,500, for traditional sales and plummeted 23.8 percent, to $80,000, for distressed homes.

Government Obama to the rescue to 2011....wait a minute.

Government Obama to the rescue to 2011....wait a minute.

Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout. Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages – one in five – are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. Recall that on Christmas Eve 2009, the Treasury Department waived a $400 billion limit on financial assistance to Fannie and Freddie, pledging unlimited help. The actual vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush-era Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort. HARP was just extended through June 30, 2011.
Read the whole article at Reuters.

Does this mean that the 800 Billion budget for housing is going to restart our market. I am in doubt due the fact there are no jobs.

Ikea Billy Bookcases made to look custom,Hinsdale,Illinois

Home and House

Ikea Billy Bookcases made to look custom, Hinsdale, Illinois 

This is a great photo to show you the changes in a stock bookcase. The difference in a custom bookshelf and a stock bookshelf is the width of the frames. Custom shelves are 2" and stock ones are 1". So by adding a molding to the unit you can achieve the custom look. In this picture there are four Ikea Billy bookcases. The owner added the molding,painted the back of the cases to create a very custom and finished look to the room.There are prints that are hanging on to the molding. Another feature would be to add bookcase lights for an indirect evening lighting to the room. Have you ever thought of painting the back of your bookcases? You need to be certain that you will keep a "staged" look on the shelves when you are done.

If the Government would please exit left. I mean really.

If the Government would please exit left. I mean really.
I read this article and I once again must express my thoughts that until the government is out of the housing sector we are only making the market conditions worse. We need to reach rock bottom to build the values. Every time the government starts to poke around it only makes matters worse. 

Too many Americans purchased housing using aggressive low down payment mortgages with teaser rates that even two income households struggled to afford during the boom years. The predictable disasters have now been well documented, but apparently the government still clings to the illusion that home ownership is worth pursuing for the marginal borrower. Freddie Mac is continuing to advertise down payment assistance for “responsible borrowers” who nevertheless lack funds for conventional down payments and closing costs. Through a bewilderingly array of grants, second mortgages, tax credits, and other programs, Freddie Mac is encouraging marginal borrowers to purchase homes that they cannot clearly afford.
At a time when home prices could very well decline further, it seems irresponsible for a government controlled agency to promote home ownership for anyone who cannot come up with a traditional down payment. However, now that the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers has expired, it appears that government is doing what it can to continue propping up activity in the sector rather than allowing market prices to fall to a natural equilibrium level. This will only prolong the pain in housing in general and expose more Americans who probably should be renting to the loss of employment mobility and potential for losses that low down payment mortgages create. via Seeking Alpha

Missing in action, Hinsdale, Du Page County, Illinois

Missing in action, Hinsdale, Du Page County, Illinois

I have been missing in action. It has been a crazy summer. I have a health issue that needed attending to and now I am back and ready to blog some very interesting areas,designs and styles of homes that are on the market. Stay tune. Beth