It's the beginning of October and, generally speaking, mid-September marks the fall real estate market here in the Chicago area. Overall, there have been some differences in the market this year from years past. Most notably, there has definitely been a slowdown.
Homes are still selling. Prices are still holding. The sales cycle is simply taking longer than it has in years past.
And we definitely have seen some corrections to pricing.
Thankfully the pricing corrections have been livable at this point. Of course, why wouldn't they be given the extreme, (ok, OUTRAGEOUS), levels of appreciation over the last few years. That was so far from sustainable long term. The gentle landing does seem as if it is occurring and sellers are having to back off their prices and, in some cases, offer incentives.
If that trend continues, it may cause more desperation than anything else. Desperation selling could definitely have a negative impact on the market.
Of course, there is the quantifiable data for our area that was compiled by the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve, (that is our Midwestern area).
Here is a letter from July of 2005 that illustrates some very interesting indicies, graphs and economic ratios regarding housing prices.
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cfljuly2005_216.pdf#search=
It is a very interesting read.
In my own business, things aren't so bad. My pipeline is good. I have 4 very strong listings and and am building my business pretty consistently.
Let's hope things stay healthy for all of us who sell or own a home.
Monday, October 02, 2006
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