Illinois Fourth Quarter Home Sales Finish Strong, Up 35.6 Percent Buyer Market Conditions Continue as 2010 Begins

SPRINGFIELD, IL – February 11, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Fueled by the tax credit incentive, home sales rebounded in the latter half of the year with Illinois buyers gaining some long-awaited confidence bolstered by low mortgage interest rates and moderating home prices. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) fourth quarter 2009 report, Illinois home sales (which include single-family homes and condominiums) totaled 29,822 in the fourth quarter, up 35.6 percent from 21,986 home sales in the same period a year ago. For the year 2009, total sales were down 1.4 percent with 107,613 homes sold compared to 109,195 sales in 2008.

In the fourth quarter, the statewide median home sales price was $155,000, down 5.5 percent from $163,950 in the fourth quarter of 2008. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less. The year-end statewide median home price was $157,000, down 14.6 percent from $183,900 in 2008.

“In the final quarter of 2009 more than 70 percent of Illinois counties reporting showed positive year-over-year increases in home sales and 50 percent marked median price increases as consumers motivated by strong buyer market conditions and the tax credit took opportune action in the Illinois housing market,” said REALTOR® Mike Onorato, GRI, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and broker-owner of Onorato Real Estate in Coal City. “A year ago the economy was in severe turmoil; going forward the focus must be on jobs and reducing the number of foreclosures, which continue to destabilize home prices.”

Adds Onorato: “Opportunities remain for buyers and sellers with the tax credit deadline extended through April 30 and expanded to give long-time homeowners some incentive to make their next move. First-time buyers who need help with the down payment should see if they qualify for the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Home Start Loan program with its optional Down Payment Assistance and Tax Credit Advance loans at www.ihda.org.”

The 4Q09 interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.99 percent in the North Central Region, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. It was down from 5.28 percent in the third quarter and also down from 5.86 percent a year ago in 4Q08.

“The Illinois economy continued on a downward trajectory in the fourth quarter of 2009,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois. “By the end of 2009, the state shed 237,300 jobs in 2009 and 381,500 jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Illinois lost jobs at a faster rate that the United States in 2009.”

Adds Hewings: “The state never recovered from the 2000-2001 recession and absent a miraculous rate of growth, it may be more than 18 years before the state is back to 2000 employment levels.”

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) total home sales (single-family and condominiums) were up 44.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 19,947 homes sold compared to 13,765 home sales in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the year, total home sales in the Chicagoland PMSA reached 69,373, nearly even with 69,406 home sales in 2008. The region’s fourth quarter 2009 median price was $187,000, down 13.0 percent from $215,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Chicagoland PMSA median home sale price for 2009 was $196,000, down 18.3 percent from $240,000 in 2008.

According to the IAR report, total home sales (single-family and condominiums) comparing 4Q09 to 4Q08 were up in 72 of 99 Illinois counties reporting with 49 of 99 counties posting median price increases. The following Illinois counties reported both sales and median price increases for the quarter: Champaign sales up 51.0 percent, median price up 6.0 percent to $143,950; Kankakee sales up 13.8 percent, median price up 2.4 percent to $128,000; Peoria sales up 7.7 percent, median price up 1.1 percent to $110,000; Sangamon sales up 44.5 percent, median price up 8.1 percent to $115,000; and Williamson sales up 13.4 percent, median price up 16.2 percent to $97,000.

In the city of Chicago, total home sales (single-family and condominiums) in the fourth quarter were up 43.7 percent to 5,639 sales compared to sales of 3,925 in the fourth quarter of 2008. The city of Chicago median price in the fourth quarter was $215,000 down 11.5 percent from $243,000 in the same period for 2008.

For the year, home sales in the city reached 19,401 in 2009, down 7.4 percent from 20,946 sales in 2008. The 2009 median price was $225,000, down 22.4 percent from $290,000 in 2008.

“Stability is eluding the Chicago market,” said REALTOR® Genie Birch, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and a broker associate with Koenig & Strey GMAC, Chicago. “As consumers struggle with confidence in larger credit purchases such as real estate, we again ask for parity in the mortgage markets and for more aggressive action to be taken to stop the flow of foreclosures, especially given recent Illinois unemployment statistics. Without revisions in lending regulations targeting urban areas, designed to reasonably accommodate purchasers looking to buy and especially to “move-up,” Chicagoans will witness declining homeownership, loss of tax revenues and erosion of the equity they have placed and created in their homes.”

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 37 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations. The Chicago PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose 50,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS® works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation that safeguards and advances the interest of real property ownership.

Detailed fourth quarter 2009 Illinois home sales data can be accessed at the IAR Web site, www.illinoisrealtor.org, on Market Stats.