CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE STATS PACK - July 13, 2009
Good Morning!
Tighter lending rules, and record high inventories of condos for sale, seem to be hampering a true recovery in this part of the real estate market here.
Indeed, loan underwriting guidelines are getting tighter, fees for condo purchasers are increasing, and those with low down payment and somewhat challenged credit have far fewer loan choices than they did even a couple of years ago. We discuss this issue today via BlogChicagoHomes.com. And we say how loans guaranteed by the FHA might help, but not necessarily solve, this problem.
Here's our updated Chicago IL Real Estate Stats Pack for Monday Morning, July 13th.
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 July 12th 4,242 82 66 31
w/e July 5th 4,188 47 91 82
% CHANGE +1.3% +74.5% -27.5% -62.2%
CLOSED PROPERTIES DATA
AVG SALE PRICE AVG DAYS ON MKT TOTAL VOLUME
w/e July 12th $273,441 150 DAYS $18,047,106
w/e July 5th $252,762 191 DAYS $23,001,342
% CHANGE +8.2% -21.5% -21.5%
THEORETICAL TIME TO CLEAR EXISTING INVENTORY (ABSORPTION RATE) -
w/e July 12th - LAST 12 MOS - 16.34 LAST 6 MOS - 17.59 LAST 3 MOS - 13.89
w/e July 5th - LAST 12 MOS - 16.06 LAST 6 MOS - 17.78 LAST 3 MOS - 14.12
PERCENT OF HOMES SELLING IN 180 DAYS -
w/e July 12th - 28.91% (UNSOLD - 29.10%)
w/e July 5th- 28.18% (UNSOLD - 70.90%)
SOURCE: MIDWEST REAL ESTATE DATA LLC, AREA MARKET SURVEY DATA
OBSERVATIONS
The Summer of '09 on the North and Northwest Sides of Chicago has been marked by wild swings, week to week, in our benchmark numbers. This week, Pending Sales figures look very encouraging, wiping out last week's drop. I take solace in the improvements made in this figure, as well as the improvement in the Average Sales Price and Average Market Time numbers - Sold Listings typically go down, along with Expired Listings, mid-month.
Absorption Rate - the theoretical time to clear existing homes-for-sale inventory, continues to improve, albeit slowly, and is still high at nearly 14 months! The percentage of homes sell within a normal six-month marketing time frame has again improved slightly this week.
Here are archived annual Chicago Neighborhood Statistics, including Units Sold and Price Trends Data, for 1995 through 2008 courtesy of The Chicago Association of Realtors.
In addition, here is an Interactive Median Price Heat Map, from the Chicago Tribune Real Estate Section, covering Every Chicago Neighborhood. View the map for links to maps for Chicago Suburbs. It is updated as new data becomes available.
RATE & MARKET WATCH
According to Bankrate.com statistics, average 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages fell precipitously once again last week - average rates fell by 0.11%. They ended the week at 5.59%, for the week ending July 8th. One year ago, the Average 30-Year Fixed Rate was 6.48%.
Average Mortgage rates tumbled as the price of a barrel of crude oil fell as well. Both are indicators of a continued weak economy, impacting both home and energy prices.
Most recent mortgage activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, comes from Mortgage Refinancing. Many of the worst-off, underwater borrowers, however, have begun to investigate loan modifications with their lender, perhaps taking advantage of President Obama's Making Home Affordable Program. However, a relatively small number of homeowners - roughly 50,000 nationwide - have been able to take advantage of the Federal Program because they are too far underwater in their homes value versus its current mortgage balance.
Many lenders now are holding off on loan modifications, as their statistics show that many of these loan mods (as high as half) become delinquent again within one year. Others, banks feel, would likely catch up with the payments on their own within a short period of time. And others - the most desperate - simply walk away, forcing foreclosure, and bank sale.
Lenders are beginning to call this walk-away process, where borrowers have the money to pay but don't, because the value of the home is worth far less than the outstanding loan against it, "strategic default."
See Holden Lewis' post via Bankrate.com for more potentially far-reaching mortgage news from the past week -
For daily news, hot information, and trends, view our Real Estate Update newsletter, via our Web Center - dean-team.com.
Need Real Estate Trends Data for any Chicago Neighborhood or Suburb? Call our Team TODAY!
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