5 Housing Market Trend in Chicago

The year of 2012 has had its ups and downs, and the following is information on the housing market trends last year in the Chicago area.

Housing market trends are famous for changing and every year there are different factors and issues that determine if it is a good year for buyers or a good year for sellers, or something in-between.

During 2012 the housing market trend in Chicago has been reported to be on the decline, according to the Trulia report. The average sale price for houses in the Chicago area between January and March was $160,750, which is a little over a 13 percent decline when compared to the price in 2011.

Market May Be Better For Buyers, Than Sellers
While this may be good for buyers, it isn’t good news for people trying to sell their homes who may be facing a situation where their homes are worth less than they paid for them. This is a bad issue that causes home sellers to lose money on sales, and even in some extreme cases, they may not even break even when they sell their homes.

The statistics also show that as of April 2012 the Chicago market price for each square foot of property was $124, which is also a decline from the same time in 2011 by a little over 12 percent.

Certain Neighborhoods Are Better Than Others

The market trend in the Chicago housing arena does show, however, that certain neighborhoods are doing better in sales than others. The ones that were doing better this year include North Side, Lincoln Park, the Loop, Wicker Park, De Paul and Bucktown.

Reports say that sales are brisk in those areas and buyers are investing in housing there, although no specific reason for it was listed in the Trulia report.

Chicago area, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, is on par with the rest of the country on the number of distressed homes at about 35 percent, while it is only one point lower on the national housing market. However, there have still been a lot of foreclosures in the Chicago area, according to the Chicago Tribune, which reported on the market showing a lot of vacant homes that were going unsold.

Experts Hope For Change in Trends

Experts are reporting that the Chicago market for housing is not very stable this year and that there is much financial uncertainty. Due to this, people who normally invest in the real estate market are standing by to see what transpires, as it is possible the housing prices will rise. The potential investors were heartened by recent reports from the Illinois Association of Realtors sales data for October, which showed an increase in the number of homes sold from the beginning of 2011. In fact, this rise is the best in the past six years for homes being sold in the Chicago area and have significantly gone up in the past two years.

Housing Time On the Market

The amount of homes for sale that are listed in the Chicago area is also a number that goes up and down. It is sometimes hard to get an accurate number in this area though, as many houses that are under a contract never close and this could cause flawed data to be counted. Even so, the trend has been for a rise in the homes available for sale, though when the recent home tax credit of $8,000 expired it brought this number way down in August of 2012.

However, while this was bad news for buyers, it means good news for sellers since there will be less properties on the market for people who want to buy to choose from. The only problem is that since the job market has not been good as of late, there are less people who can actually afford to buy these available houses.

The bottom line is that just like in many other communities and metro areas, the housing market in the Chicago area has had its share of ups and downs. If you are trying to either buy or sell a home, then you should talk to a realtor for the latest information and advice.