Median Home prices up 5 percent around here

[Arch]

For those worried about their property values...some good news.

tinyurl.com/2pfmop

Median home price increases five percent

October 8, 2007
Sun staff

In August, the price of a home in the area went up slightly, even as sales fell, compared to August 2006, according to data compiled by the Illinois Association of Realtors.

In the Chicago area, which includes Will and DuPage counties, the median home price was $266,500, up about 5 percent from $254,000 in August 2006.

The median is a price at which half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

The average home sale price for the area was $343,079, up 5 percent from $326,755 in August 2006.

Sales in the Chicago area dropped in August. There were 9,736 sales, down 20 percent from 12,192 home sales in the same month last year.

That trend - higher prices and fewer sales - is the same one set in the second quarter of the year, according to the association.

For that time period, the median home sale price went up about 2.6 percent in the Chicago area, while total sales dropped 19 percent, compared to the same time last year.

The association found similar trends in sales and prices throughout Illinois.

The real estate agents' association gathers its sales and price information from 35 local groups and associations.

[doctorwho]

archwinsome said:

For those worried about their property values...some good news.

tinyurl.com/2pfmop

Median home price increases five percent

October 8, 2007
Sun staff

In August, the price of a home in the area went up slightly, even as sales fell, compared to August 2006, according to data compiled by the Illinois Association of Realtors.

In the Chicago area, which includes Will and DuPage counties, the median home price was $266,500, up about 5 percent from $254,000 in August 2006.

The median is a price at which half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

The average home sale price for the area was $343,079, up 5 percent from $326,755 in August 2006.

Sales in the Chicago area dropped in August. There were 9,736 sales, down 20 percent from 12,192 home sales in the same month last year.

That trend - higher prices and fewer sales - is the same one set in the second quarter of the year, according to the association.

For that time period, the median home sale price went up about 2.6 percent in the Chicago area, while total sales dropped 19 percent, compared to the same time last year.

The association found similar trends in sales and prices throughout Illinois.

The real estate agents' association gathers its sales and price information from 35 local groups and associations.

we just got a review from the local top realtor in our area -- and although sales in our area are taking 60 days vs 30 days a year ago - the average sales price is up 8% --

[clowdaddy]

Thanks, guys, for reminding me that the fact that my mortgage payment has gone up is (in this case) A Good Thing!

[wvhsparent]

Prices may have gone up on some.....put sales are still in the tank.
A realtor friend told us that in the Aurora/Naperville Area sales are waaaaaay down.

[momof3]

Neumann is blaming this on the bad market here, in Denver, and Detroit.

Another thought on the resale market. When you don't get that "entry" or "new" buyer it's a huge domino effect.
This summer my friend put her house on the market so they could buy another house in her neighborhood. Another person put their house on the market to buy her house. She waited for 6 months, got sick of waiting, and pulled her house off. Houses #1 and #3 are still for sale. (this is in 203)

A friend two subdivisions over put her house on the market hoping to buy another house in the neighborhood for sale. That was 2 months ago, still waiting.

In case #1, 1 new buyer would have triggered 3 sales.

Unable to weather storm
Builder to file bankruptcy, laying off local employees

October 23, 2007
By David Roeder Chicago Sun-Times
The crash in the Chicago-area market for new homes has claimed its biggest casualty.

The builder of the NeuDearborn Station townhome community, still under construction at 903 N. Route 59, said Monday that it will file for bankruptcy and has laid off most of its employees.

» Click to enlarge image NeuDearborn Station townhouses are still under construction in Naperville. The builder, Warrenville-based Neumann Homes, declared bankruptcy Monday.
(Jonathan Miano/Staff photographer)

"That's obviously not good news for Neumann, and it's not good news for its employees," Naperville City Council Member Douglas Krause said. "It's just another sign of the times as to what's going on in the housing market."

Warrenville-based Neumann Homes Inc., the Chicago area's ninth-largest builder, blamed its predicament on a drop of more than 50 percent in annual sales within the Chicago and Denver markets. It also pointed to a decision in 2005 to invest in the Detroit market, a move it said cost the company more than $60 million.

The details
Neumann said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and that its lenders have agreed to provide limited additional funding so that its assets can be evaluated and sold.
It said the earnest money of customers whose new homes haven't started construction is safe in escrow. Neumann said it will ask a bankruptcy judge to approve refunds from those accounts.

It also said it will work with lenders to ensure that homes will be completed if construction has started.

Kenneth Neumann, the chief executive officer, could not be reached for comment. The company faxed some details about its plans in response to inquiries from the Sun-Times.

In the fax, Neumann said it has closed its sales, production and customer service offices. It gave no figures concerning layoffs.

"The market downturn in the Chicago and Denver housing markets (is) now in excess of 50 percent, with home prices dropping from 10 percent to 25 percent in some sub-markets," Kenneth Neumann commented in the fax. "Even after the significant help we have received from our lenders this year, the company can no longer weather this storm."

Missteps
Naperville Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mike Skarr said the housing market in Naperville isn't much of a storm, it's just returning to normal after a recent "fly-up."
"Those businesses that don't have the staying power to weather those changes in the market will have a challenge," Skarr said.

Steven Hovany, president of the housing consultancy Strategy Planning Associates Inc., said Neumann fell victim to an overaggressive and mistimed expansion into new markets. "As a result, they've got a lot of projects and few sales," he said.

Its problems in the Detroit area, a market hit hard by auto industry layoffs, stem from its early 2005 acquisition of Tadian Homes. At the time, Neumann said the deal would make it the 35th biggest home builder in the United States.

The Sun-Times said that in 2006 Neumann ranked as the ninth-busiest builder in the Chicago area, with 833 closings representing $231.2 million.

It has 15 active developments in the Chicago area, primarily in towns on the fringe of the six-county region such as Antioch, Grayslake and Oswego. Among the newest are NeuDearborn Station, the transit-oriented project near the Route 59 Metra stop in Naperville, and a subdivision in Gilberts that was planned for 985 houses.

"It's a good property up there, and it's a good product, and they were doing a good job building it," Krause said of NeuDearborn. "I suspect somebody will pick it up, or they'll sell it off during the bankruptcy. ... I suspect it will get finished. How long it's going to take to finish it 100 percent, I don't know."

Neumann has concentrated on the moderate price market. Its most expensive advertised price is $411,495 for a house in North Aurora.

The last Chicago-area home builder to file for a bankruptcy is believed to be United Homes in 2000.

Naperville Sun Staff writer Emily McFarlan contributed to this report.

Sun-Times News Service.