According to the latest report from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR), statewide home sales in July 2011 totaled 9,708 homes sold. That's up 18.4 percent from 8,197 homes sold in July 2010.
In our local MLS (Southern Illinois Regional MLS) here in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs, there were 508 sales in July 2011 compared to 491 in July 2010 -- an increase of 3.4 percent. The average sale price in our market was $128,843 in July 2011 versus $141,270 in July 2010 -- a decrease in price of 9.1 percent.
IAR has issued a news release with an analysis of the situation: “The market, like the economy, continues to struggle even though interest rates and prices would appear to suggest favorable conditions for housing purchases,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois. “It would seem that until the economy signals a clear rebound—with sustained employment growth of the order of 200,000 jobs added per month—can we expect to see a sustained uptick in housing sales and some modest recovery in prices. Since April, the unemployment rate has not shown any definitive movement.”
Adds Hewings: “The forecast over the next three months indicates good news for the total number of sales, which will be positive year-over-year in August, September and October for Illinois ...”
Sales up. Prices down. A mixed bag right now, but it remains an amazing time to buy a home with record low interest rates and plenty of choices for buyers.
Comments(0)