How did the real estate market end up in 2018?
So lets start with .... how are those prices doing?
Remember that every subdivision and town is responding differently if and 'when' a home in the area goes on the market. Sellers are now pretty happy with prices or have decided that now is a good time to move. What about you? Prices increased slightly overall.
Sellers or Buyers Market?
Still a sellers market but the total sales are down from 2018. It ranges anywhere between -.5% to -13.7% for last year. Inventory has increased over the last month collectively but it's all part of the winter market slow down so no worries there.
If your home is currently on the market for 30 days or more, buyers have given you feedback on your condition, price, or your location. With inventory this low there is no reason not to get an offer but buyers are not going to pay your price if you've got too much work or deferred maintenance. They will gravitate towards another home with a better price or more updates for that price. Buyers want the house with the least amount of work! I see & hear it every time I show property. Your particular subdivision will have it's own unique number.
For buyers, this is the perfect time to look for a home. Inventory is currently up & prices have not increased like will happen in the future spring market. Still, agents & pundits are saying that the market is slow. So far, nothing is pointing that the market is going to crash. Possibly what might be true is that some inventory might not be what buyers want or expect.
Another graph is from the Illinois Associaton of Realtors on listings taken between 2008 to 2018. This is the best visual to show that there are not enough homes on the market. Please check out that graph.
When does the 'spring market' begin?
February 15th is the lucky day usually. Yes, pop your eyes back into your head at the early time. But .... if you were a buyer you would look approximately 30 days, then another 60 days to close equaling 90 which is 'whammy' springtime!
Is it true that we are headed for another mortgage collapse?
There is such conflicting nonsense all over the internet on this. Even real estate pundits can't agree on what is 'going to happen'. So far, there are no indicators that the market is going south as I've checked & rechecked for this report. No 'experts' are going to tell you that their crystal ball is out for a retrofit & their ouija board needs a tune-up. Besides, they like to look at numbers across the U.S. and just lump the whole market together into one pot. That's just not the right way to do it but it's another thing they won't tell you.
How long to sell again Lyn?
As mentioned above, it depends. Yep it depends on you .... if you get your home ready for 
sale by staging it. It depends ... if you price your home right it should sell right away. If you don't do those marketing basics the average is 71 days.
Why are or aren't sellers moving?
There is a trend being seen that people in Illinois are selling & moving to states with lower overall taxing bodies. Especially in the Cook County area, most homeowners are sick of the constant tax increases with very little value seen (2019 is a reassessment year on top of that). Another underlying trend is when children are finally out of the house the largest tax portion of the bill is for school districts. Why pay when your kids are grown & on their own. People are leaving Illinois (45,000) in droves & it's well documented.
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