CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE STATS PACK - December 8, 2008
Good Morning!
Figures from the Federal Reserve Board, released last week, show non-mortgage Consumer Borrowing actually decreased in October. The news comes on the heals of the latest U.S. Labor Department statistics on escalating unemployment across the country. Last month, 533,000 non-farm jobs were lost in the economy, bringing the U.S. Unemployment Rate to a steep 6.7%.
Many feel slowing consumer credit will slow turnaround in the Real Estate Market as well, as those fearing for their own job security may not be willing to take a chance on a new home mortgage right now.
Read more via our post today at BlogChicagoHomes.com.
Here's our updated Chicago IL Real Estate Stats Pack for Monday Morning, December 8th.
Communities and clients we serve, reside, or plan to reside, include the Chicago Neighborhoods of The Chicago Loop, The Gold Coast, River North, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown, Edgewater, North Center, Lincoln Square, Albany Park, Ravenswood, Wicker Park, and Bucktown.
Also, these Great Chicago Neighborhoods: Logan Square, Rogers Park , West Ridge, Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park, Sauganash, Edgebrook, and Edison Park. Plus All Chicago Suburbs.
SINGLE FAMILY, CONDOS, AND SMALL MULTI-UNIT PROPERTIES - NORTH SIDE OF CHICAGO, NORTH OF ADDISON STREET, WEST OF ASHLAND AVENUE
ACTV LISTINGS JUST SOLD CLOSED EXPIRED
w/e December 8th 4,446 36 52 103
w/e December 1st 4,593 18 52 63
% CHANGE -3.2% +100.0% +-0.0% +63.5%
CLOSED PROPERTIES DATA
AVG SALE PRICE AVG DAYS ON MKT TOTAL VOLUME
w/e December 8th $320,238 184 DAYS $16,652,220
w/e December 1st $266,515 157 DAYS $13,858,780
% CHANGE +20.2% +17.2% +20.2%
THEORETICAL TIME TO CLEAR EXISTING INVENTORY (ABSORPTION RATE) -
w/e December 8th - LAST 12 MOS - 14.80 LAST 6 MOS - 14.13 LAST 3 MOS - 17.25
w/e December 1st - LAST 12 MOS - 15.17 LAST 6 MOS - 14.32 LAST 3 MOS - 17.73
PERCENT OF HOMES SELLING IN 180 DAYS -
w/e December 8th - 40.06% (UNSOLD - 59.94%)
w/e December 1st - 39.13% (UNSOLD - 60.87%)
SOURCE: MIDWEST REAL ESTATE DATA LLC, AREA MARKET SURVEY DATA
OBSERVATIONS
We have experienced considerable bounce back in Pending Units and Sales Volume this week, compared to last week's figures that included the Thanksgiving weekend.
Active Listing Inventory continued its likely-seasonal fall. Closed Units, properties that went under contract about a month or so, was stable versus last week. Here, many may have scheduled pre-Thanksgiving closings which also preceded the end of the month of November. Expired Listings showed there usual end-of-month run-up.
Average Sales Price washed last week's 12% loss with a 20% gain - perhaps bargain hunters are beginning to snap up some of the correctly-priced listings. Unsure if this will prove to be an ongoing trend over the next few weeks. Average Market Time spiked over 17%, again perhaps owing to the season.
Absorption Rate, or theoretical time to clear existing listing inventory, fell a bit last week, but, at 17.25 months in the North and Northwest Side of Chicago Neighborhoods we frequently serve, it is still high.
The Percentage of Sale Within Six Month (180 Days) slightly improved last week - just over 40% of listings we monitor here closely sell in a normal six-month marketing time frame.
Here are archived annual Chicago Neighborhood Statistics, including Units Sold and Price Trends Data, for 1992 through 2007, courtesy of The Chicago Association of Realtors.
RATE & MARKET WATCH
Average 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates continued to move down this past week - down 0.05%, to 5.92%, for the week ending December 3rd, according to Bankrate.com. One year ago, the Average 30-Year Fixed Rate was 6.00%.
A couple of weeks ago, after the Federal Reserve Board announced that it would purchase in excess of $500 Billion of Mortgage-Backed Securities in an attempt to quickly drive down mortgage rates, rates fell to near 5.25% for many lenders operating in Chicago within hours. The following day, rates gave back some of those improvements, but have since begun to moderate.
Most of the borrowers who took advantage of the lower rates were refinancing their current loans. Last week, according to estimates by the Mortgage Bankers Association, about 7 out of 10 loans involved refinances, rather than new home purchases.
The Fed then announced they will attempt to support enough Mortgage Backed Securities to drive down average loan rates to 4.50%, with the hoped-for result of increased housing demand. Lowered-rate products would be geared only to the purchase market, rather than those seeking to refinance.
According to Bob Walters, Chief Economist at Quicken Loans, "As long as rates remain at these unprecedented lows, we're likely to see this activity sustained for the remainder of the holiday season."
It stands to reason that if rates fall even further, it could spur new purchases. However, other factors, including a weakened U.S. Economy, and frighteningly-high unemployment numbers, might still keep prospective homebuyers off the fence until they stabilize.
See Holden Lewis's post via Bankrate.com for more detailed analysis and rate comparisons versus last week.
For daily news, hot information, and trends, view our Real Estate Update newsletter, via our Web Center - dean-team.com.
CALL US TODAY for specific trends data for any Chicago Neighborhood or Suburb.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
