Market Conditions: Chicago March Sales Down 11.5%, Prices Rise
Crain’s reports on the March existing home sales both for Chicagoland and for the City of Chicago.
The Chicagoland area saw sales drop 29% to 5,753 compared with 8,101 in March 2007. In the city, sales weren’t as gloomy.
Sales fell 11.5% in March in the city of Chicago, to 2,045 from 2,311. The median price in the city rose 5.3% to $300,000.
In the Chicagoland nine county area, the median price rose 1.2% to $248,000.
March is usually an active sales month- i.e. the “spring selling season.”
Local Home Sales Down 29% in March [Crain’s]
Median price means very little in this context.
For all we know, the number of homes sold for under $300,000 dropped faster than the number of homes sold for more than $300,000. The actual price of each individual home is irrelevant, and the change in price of each individual home cannot be determined.
Thankfully, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look to the median price to determine decling markets
as most markets in the west coast will show, median usually rises since lower priced property sales are impacted first. But eventually the median follows the sales. Give it another few months.
I just had 2 lengthy conversations with 2 lenders I work very closely with to determine if Fannie Mae has designated Cook County as a stable, soft, declining or significantly declining market. Both indicated that Cook Cty, per Fannie Mae lending guidelines, is considered stable. Why appraisers are able to indicate neighborhoods as having an oversupply, hence requiring the increase of downpayment of mortgages of 5% to be increased to 10%, federal lending guidelines still indicate that Cook County in general is considered stable.