WHAT'S GETTING CHICAGO CONDOS SOLD - Heavy Incentives!
DESPITE GLUT OF CONDOS ON MARKET IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS, CHICAGO MEDIAN CONDO PRICE ROSE 5% IN 2008!
With so many condos for sale across the City of Chicago, what must a developer do to sell his new ones? Offer Incentives! Deep Discounts! And . . . be CREATIVE about it!
Writer Don Debat, in yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times, quoted Chicago MLS Data from Midwest Real Estate Data LLC indicating a median price gain for condominiums across Chicago last year - from $295,400 in 2007, to $310,032 last year. Of course, condo sales in some neighborhoods - in parts of the Northwest Side of Chicago, for example - saw median price declines. Several closer-in neighborhoods showed relatively flat sales, while others, such as the Chicago Gold Coast and Near North Side, showed strong gains.
One factor cited by Debat, according to David Hanna, President of The Chicago Association of Realtors, was the high number brand new of condo units built during the boom times of 2006 and early 2007, then delivered as the market cooled last year.
Some of the creative incentives Debat uncovered -
- One developer of townhomes in the Roscoe Village Neighborhood of Chicago offered free Principal and Interest Payments for six months - an estimated $15,000 value.
- A developer of new single-family homes in the Edgebrook and Forest Glen Neighborhoods on the Northwest Side of Chicago created a "Home Buyer Stimulus Program," offering a choice of low-interest financing, six months of principal, interest, and real estate taxes, or a $15,000 credit against closing costs.
- Bluestone Development, also building a townhome project in the Roscoe Village Neighborhood, has offered developer financing with as little as 10% down and interest rates as low as 4.99%. Few Jumbo Mortgage Loans offer such attractive terms.
- On the South Side, in the historic Kenwood Neighborhood of Chicago - where President Barack Obama has his Chicago home - The Residences at The Abbey on South Greenwood Avenue is offering an eight-year real estate tax freeze on this landmark property. The developer estimates the tax incentives will save buyers thousands over the coming eight years.
With a little luck, perhaps there is a bit of light shining through the other end of that Real Estate Tunnel here in Chicago after all!
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
