Real Estate Market Update - Northwest Suburbs - December 2012
What a finish to 2012! This is the place to get those housing questions answered about the real estate market in the Northwest Suburbs!
I'd like to report that 2012 sales have been up in our area in both housing types. The market improved consistently each and every month.
Our local inventory level (absorption rate) has continued to decrease and ended at extremely low levels. With this inventory level near 2-4 months this should be considered a sellers market. And at these levels, buyers should be knocking each other down in the driveway to get into a house but that hasn't been happening except in the lower price ranges. Sales levels are good but based on the inventory they should be downright crazy.
What about Prices? Well, the national media is wrong about price increases here in the Northwest Suburbs. Everything in real estate is local and that includes talking about prices. Unfortunately prices are flat which you can see by the trend indicators in the chart.
I've included the highest sales prices in each town and category every month so we can watch for the 2nd tier home sales increase. The market will always recover from the 'bottom up' with the lower sales prices showing the largest number of sales until the 2nd tier breaks free. This will be an indication that the 'move up' buyers will finally been able to take advantage of today's prices and the low interest rates. This will be the next trend in our recovery. Every month there are indications that there is life in that upper end but far from normalizing the market that is required.
Mixed Signals Here! Average Days on the Market are still extremely elevated in spite of our low inventory. Market times have been cut substantially from the beginning of the
year.
Sales themselves are over 2011 totals upwards of 50% in some cases and there is still no elevation in prices (or by a nose at most).
I am optimistic about the coming year and it doesn't seem that we will be experiencing the typical winter slowdown but you never know how the market will go when it is effected by a variety of economic indicators. When interest rates are so low, buyers should take advantage of the best affordability opportunity ever and forget about the possible blizzards and snow.
Looking for an agent that's a true market expert? Let's get your Northwest Suburban home on the market and priced right to sell! I can zero in to your specific area and give you the current market details so you can make an informed decision and help your home sell faster.
If your home is currently on the market, is your agent showing you any of this information? I'm one of those unique people that will tell you how the market really is explaining the good with the bad.
Looking for a home in the area? Please give me a call or email me (on the upper right) to talk about the possibilities. Depending on your price range, you will need current market strategies to get you into that new home.
Sources: MRED December Stats 2012
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