The Rumored Demise - Another Home Sells in Chicago

Posted by Tom McCarey

March 2, 2008

Nothing Better than a Pile of Dirt The Chicago real estate market today? I can’t help but think of Mark Twain’s quote, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Yesterday my clients finalized negotiations of an offer for their home in West Town. Listed in the upper six figures, this residence attracted the prospective buyers back for three showings before they made a strong initial offer that needed minimal back and forth to satisfy both parties. And so we proceed.

The next step in this process is for the buyers to have the home inspected during the five-day review period while they set about getting underwriting for their 80% loan. I am not sure whether or not media coverage of the mortgage meltdown inspired these buyers to cross their t’s and dot their i’s before setting off on their search but they had their paperwork in order before making their offer with a substantiated pre-approval relative to the agreed upon purchase price.

So while nobody in their right mind would claim that things are robust in Chicago, the truth of the matter is that single family homes and condominiums are selling. Time on the market has increased which I ascribe to several factors

buyers with homes to sell are waiting until they sell to buy
the general state of the economy has resulted in increased consumer trepidation
the state of the mortgage market has tightened lending standards
there is a tremendous amount of inventory available, and
some consumers are taking the idea of a “buyer’s market” to extremes with unreasonably low offers

You must be talkin' to me In certain respects the real estate market resembles the physical health of Chicagoans like myself who belong to a health club. And though I don’t work out every day, I work out enough to be in good shape (just like I perceive the market). I tout enough weights, do enough cardio and apply the general principles of yoga enough to be in reasonably good shape. And like the real estate market, I too have a longer market time than I used to.