The national credit crisis – lenders tightening their standards so severely that it’s a struggle for anyone to qualify for financing -- has certainly slowed any possible recovery of Chicago’s housing market. If you need more proof of this, just check out this story in Crain’s Chicago Business.
Two tenants have decded against moving into a pair of new office towers in downtown Chicago. Bridge Finance Group, which is based in Chicago, has dropped its plans to move into the top three levels of John Buck Co.’s tower at 155 N. Wacker Drive. Stockbridge Capital Partners LLC, a real estate investment firm based out of California, has closed its Chicago office and plans to sublease the floor it was supposed to move into at Hines Interests’ tower at 300 N. LaSalle St.
At first glance, this may seem to have little to do with residential real estate. But the open space in Chicago’s downtown towers is disconcerting. It just shows once again how tenuous our real estate market in general has become. During the early days of the nation’s housing slump, Chicago’s top neighborhoods were still holding their own. Some of them, of course, still are; Many homes in neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Square and the Gold Coast are still not only holding their value, but appreciating.
Many other formerly strong neighborhoods, though, are seeing housing prices and sales continue to dip. For a while, the city’s commercial real estate sector was holding strong, too, even during the height of the general real estate slump. That, too, unfortunately, has changed. Commercial REALTORS® expect 2009 to be one dismal year.
I don’t bring all this up merely to ruin your day. But I do want the home sellers who are reading my blog to realize exactly what they’re up against when they put their homes on the market today. It is far more difficult to sell a residence in today’s market than it was even three months ago.
That’s why I recommend that sellers work with a knowledgeable REALTOR® who can help them set the right price and market their home extensively. To do anything less is a big mistake in today’s challenging real estate market.
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