Lincoln Square Chicago, IL 60625 March 2011

Lincoln Square's March 2011 Market Report is getting more specific for the consumer to really understand where their house may be sitting in today's buyer's market.  We have had to break it down even further due to the fact that CORELogic just came out with some blazing report stating that Illinois right now is in Second Position for shadow inventory re defaults (short sales, loan modifications and foreclosures).  New Jersey is on top of us.  Michigan is down the list. 

CORELogic feels that should the homes be placed almost "spot on" in pricing, that we educate the consumer about the values that are in the marketplace right now as well as encourage those who are in default to reach out to their lender, we could just possible reduce our shadow inventory by 50%.  However, they question whether it can be done because of the "red tape". 

Our goal is to get the homes on the market and off the market in a reasonable time before any huge fan fare hits with the next tidal wave of foreclosures.  Right now it is reported that U.S. Treasury is holding roughly 1.8 million homes in their "vault" and want to unload roughly all of it in the next 12 months.  I say, WRONG IDEA and strain it out longer over the course of 3 years, whereby it would maintain home values at a higher level and not reduce them so drastically.  We will see.

So, with all this in mind .....

Detached Single Family Homes:

We are keeping at a standard pace that we have over the course of the last three years since 2009.  The MEDIAN List Price was $837,00 on the pending sales and $825,000 on the sold sale.  Market time is still up there at 276 days on the market and it needs to be "trimmed down" with a realistic listing price especially when we are going against the latest release of shadow inventory from the U.S. Treasury.

Lincoln Square Condominiums:

Distressed Properties:

17 properties of which 8 were Lincoln Square short sales (congrats) and only 9 were Lincoln Square foreclosures.  The median list price of the pending 8 were $84,600 and the average selling price of the 9 came in at a low $45,000 on the median.  The average market time for the closed distressed condominiums was 64 days.  NOTE:  The reason why the market time is short is because they were foreclosures.  Foreclosures close fast then short sales but read the next data.  The properties pending or under contract only had a market time of 115 days which means that the properties are being priced more properly when it comes to a distressed sale. 

Standard Condominium Properties in Lincoln Square:

Right now I really need to clarify with you that the boundaries do not go past Western Avenue.  A whole different ball game and different pocket area.  (Which means a lower predominant value then prime Lincoln Square).  So ....

The Average Median Pending price was $300,000 with six properties in this specific neighborhood (like I have explained in the paragraph above) and the Median Selling Price for the condos that closed was $306,500. 

This is why one cannot average out the quarterly sales as the market is ever changing, and the standard condominium prices are doing much better.  However, one needs to understand the boundaries for the neighborhoods in order to not have all of you drop a bucket on me and ask "Why in the blue blazes is it being stated differently?"  Here's why:  you can't put short sales and foreclosures into the bundle of standard sales.  When you do that it greatly reduces your average or median selling price of the homes in your specific Lincoln Square neighborhood. 

Have a question, give me a shout!

photo:  rawich