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Harper Neighborhood Home Sales – 1st Half 2010

The Harper School neighborhood is certainly one of the bright spots right now in terms of homes sales. While home sales trends in Wilmette in the first half of 2010 were quite positive (+85% over 1st half 2009), Harper’s trends are even better, with 150% more houses sold this year than last. Even more surprising is the improvement of median selling price. While the median selling price for Wilmette actually decreased by 1%, the median price in the Harper area actually increased 7.4%, from $745,000 to $800,000. We haven’t seen this kind of trend in quite a while!

Before we get too excited, we need to keep in mind that there is still a lot of inventory on the market: 52 active listings in the Harper area alone, and some of them have been sitting for a while. On the other hand, there have been a few cases where the home was in great condition and well-priced and it sold in a matter of days. Yes, it can still happen, even in today’s market.

Harper Neighborhood Home Sales (1st Half 2010 vs. 2009)

Source: MRED, LLC. Single family homes. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

If you’d like to find out what your home is worth in today’s market, you can get a free, quick, over-the-net evaluation here or you can call me at 847-687-5957. If you would like more specific data about home sales on your street or in the immediate vicinity of your home, you can email me and I will be happy to send it to you.

Related Articles:

• North Shore Home Sales Data – 1st Half 2010
• Harper School
• Kenilworth Gardens
• Indian Hill Estates

Tags: Harper Elementary School, Wilmette, Wilmette neighborhoods

North Shore Market Update – 1st Half 2010 vs. 2009

Things are definitely looking up for real estate on the North Shore of Chicago. North Shore home sales were up 72% over last year for the first half of 2010. This increased activity was accompanied by a slight increase (+2%) in the median price of homes sold. Market time decreased slightly (-2%) over last year.

Every one of the nine towns covered in the chart below showed an increase in unit sales, with the big gainers being Kenilworth (+280% off a very small base), Highland Park (+99%) and Wilmette (+85%).

Pricing was more of a mixed bag. Kenilworth, Glenview, Highland Park and Lake Forest showed healthy increases in median price, while Winnetka, Northfield and Glencoe were down.

Market time was also mixed. Wilmette, Lake Forest and Evanston showed improvement, while days on market for Kenilworth Winnetka, Northfield and Glenview continued to increase.

Are we on the road to recovery? I sure hope so. The market seems to be turning the corner, but it will continue to be impacted by unemployment and short sales/foreclosures.

North Shore Market Update – 1st Half 2010 vs. 2009*

*Source- MRED LLC. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Single family home data.

If you would like to see more North Shore real estate data, you can go here.

Tags: North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends

North Shore Housing Inventory – June 12, 2010

Here’s a snapshot of North Shore housing inventory (single family homes), as of June 12, 2010. Although the number of active listings is 8% higher than it was in April, market time is 9% less and median prices are 1.8% higher, both encouraging signs for  home sellers.

Town	# Active Listings	Avg. List Price	Median List Price	Days on Market
Evanston	253	$706,631	$529,000	189
Wilmette	185	$918,933	$745,000	181
Winnetka	209	$2,128,338	$1,450,000	241
Kenilworth	45	$2,155,496	$2,199,000	341
Glenview	373	$745,177	$609,000	228
Glencoe	132	$1,702,981	$1,299,000	259
Northfield	67	$987,957	$679,500	287
Highland Park	318	$997,325	$604,450	236
Lake Forest	341	$1,910,443	$1,399,000	283
NORTH SHORE	1924	$1,262,758	$841,950	238

Source: MRED- Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

You can get more North Shore market statistics here.

Tags: North Shore market data

North Shore Market Update – May 2010

The North Shore housing market continues to improve, with May showing positive trends across three key measures: home sales, prices and market time. For the nine markets included in our North Shore total, single family detached home sales were up 42% in May over a year ago. And for the first time in many months, prices also increased, by 14% over last year. Market time decreased 4%, indicating that we are successfully working through the large inventory of homes that have been languishing on the market. The days on market number is still high at 196 days, but it’s looking a whole lot better than it has in some time.

In terms of homes sold, the big winner this month was Glencoe, which increases 333% over last May. Winnetka and Wilmette also had big increases of 150% and 125%, respectively. The only market that did not increase this month was Lake Forest.

Glencoe’s median price increased 77% over last May, driven by the fact that its only three sales in May 2009 were at a very low price point ($435,000), whereas this year the median price of the thirteen homes sold was $770,000. Glenview also had a big jump, from $368,750 last year, to $635,000 this year. Evanston had a modest increase of 9%. The other towns had odest declines.

Several markets showed decreases in time on market of homes sold: Glencoe, Northfield, Wilmette, Evanston, Highland Park and Lake Forest. Winnetka had a big increase in time on market of properties sold. This indicates that homes that had been overpriced finally came down to a realistic level and were able to sell.

North Shore Market Update – May 2010 vs. May 2009 (Source: MRED- Deemed reliable but not guaranteed)

Town	Homes Sold	% Change	Median Price	% Change	Market Time	% Change
Evanston	36	6%	483,000	9%	112	-21%
Wilmette	27	125%	542,003	-3%	140	-26%
Glenview/Golf	35	59%	635,000	72%	266	31%
Northfield	1	0%	1,000,000	-38%	514	-32%
Kenilworth	2	0%	1,317,500	-39%	335	22%
Winnetka	15	150%	952,500	-1%	243	103%
Glencoe	13	333%	770,000	77%	196	-34%
Highland Park	30	20%	445,500	-11%	183	-18%
Lake Forest	17	-6%	595,000	-11%	264	-9%
NORTH SHORE	175	42%	585,000	14%	196	-4%

Tags: North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends

Home Prices on the Rise?

The National Association of Realtors just released the latest data on the housing market and the numbers are cause for cautious optimism.   Nationally, home sales rose almost 23% in April for the U.S. In Illinois sales grew 34% over last year. And in the Chicago area home sales jumped 47%.  (These numbers are for single family homes, condos and townhouses).

But  the improved affordability of homes has been a double-edged sword. Great for buyers, but horrifying for sellers as they watched their homes lose value month after month as home prices plunged  from  2006 highs. Now, finally,  prices seem to be starting to  turnaround. Nationally the median home price increased 4% over last April. Illinois home prices rose 5% and in Chicago the median price incresed 3.2%, the first annual increase in nearly two years, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.  Good news for homeowners, finally.

But what about the North Shore? How did we fare? From a sales perspective, great. Things are moving again and we are even seeing multiple offer situations. Home sales were up a whopping 52%. vs. last April (which was the worst month on record for some North Shore communities). But here on the North Shore prices are not yet making a comeback. The median price for the North Shore overall was down 6% vs. last April. However, looking closer at the individual towns, the results are all over the board. Evanston, Northfield, Glenview and Winnetka were bright spots, while communities to the north (Glencoe, Highland Park and Lake Forest) did not fare so well:

Median Home Price Change (April 2010 vs. year ago)

Evanston   +8%

Wilmette   -16%

Glenview   +40%

Winnetka   +45%

Northfield   +51%

Glencoe   -80%

Highland Park   -99%

Lake Forest   -21%

A word of caution: one month does not a trend make. We will need a couple more months of data before we can draw any conclusions about where prices are headed on the North Shore. Stay tuned.

Tags: Home prices

North Shore Market Update – April 2010

Home sales across the North Shore were up 136% in April 2010 over April of 2009. The increase in sales was accompanied by a 15% decrease in median sold price. As sellers become more realistic about the pricing of their houses, buyers are responding. Days on market was unchanged from last year, the first time in a while that we have not seen an increase in market time over the prior year.

Every town except Glencoe had a significant increase in sales vs. last year. The biggest winners were  Winnetka and Highland Park. Winnetka, which had only 2 sales in April of 2009 (the worst month for Winnetka real estate in recent memory), had 12 ales this April. Highland Park had 8 sales last year and 42 sales this year. Highland Park also had the largest decrease in median price for sold homes. Winnetka, on the other hand, had a median price increase of 14%.

North Shore Market Update – April 2010 vs. April 2009*

Source: MRED – Deemed relaible but not guaranteed.
* Single family detached homes

Tags: North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends

Evanston Real Estate Trends – March

The signs for Evanston’s housing market are improving. Sale activity is up significantly and inventories are down, indicating a move toward a more balanced market. Although prices are down vs. last year, the rate of decrease is slowing and appears to be reaching bottom.

Evanston Home Sales

Home sales in March were up 129% over last month and up 67% over March of last year. Sales for the first quarter are running 46% ahead of the same period last year. In both 2009 and 2010, 80% of home sales were below $500,000.

Evanston Home Prices

Consistent with surrounding suburbs, the increase in sales has been accompanied by a decrease in prices. The median sales price for single family homes (houses, condos and townhomes) was $274,900, down 13% from February and down 3.2% from March of last year. The average sales price was $335,065, down 8% from February and down 3% from March of last year.

Inventory and Months Supply

There were 793 homes for sale in Evanston as of March, up 9% from last month (typical seasonality) and down 7% vs. March of last year. The months supply of homes, which indicates how long it would take to sell all of the homes that are currently on the market, was 12 months, down from 22 months last March. Although the months supply is higher than we would like to see (6-7 months is a “balanced” market), Evanston’s months supply is lower than most of the other North Shore markets.

Market Time

The average days on market (DOM) is how many days a property is on the market before it sells and an upward trend indicates a move towards a buyer’s market. The DOM for March was 113 days, up 21% from last month and up 21% vs. march of 2009.

Tags: Evanston, North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends

Winnetka Real Estate Trends – March

The Winnetka housing market has picked up considerably this spring. Sale are increasing and we are working through the high inventory of homes for sale. Prices have stopped sliding, though they are still below last year and we probably won’t see them increase for a while yet.

Winnetka Home Sales

Home sales were up 7% from February 67% over last March. For the first quarter, sales are running 56% ahead of first quarter 2009 when the market was at its lowest point. Although more houses sold this year than last, a larger percentage of homes sold under $1,000,000 than last year.

Winnetka Home Prices

Prices are trending up over the past few months, but are still below this time last year. The median sales price for March was $1,065,000, which was up 10% over February but down 31% vs. last March. Average sale price was $1,734,553, up 55% from February but down 25% vs. year ago.

Inventory and Months Supply

There were 221 homes for sale in Winnetka as of March, which was up 8% over February and down almost 9% from March of last year. We would expect the inventory of homes for sale to go up in March given seasonality. The more important number is months supply, which is a measure of how long it would take to sell all the homes on the market at the current rate of sale. In March of this year the months supply of homes was 14.7 months. This is higher than we would like to see but down 44% from last March and dramatically better than April of last year when the months supply reached 86 months!

Market Time

The days on market (DOM) chart shows how long the average property is on the market before it sells. An upward trend indicates a buyer’s market, while a downward trend is a move towards a seller’s market. The DOM for March was 143 days, up 22% from February and up 34% from last March.

Tags: North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends, Winnetka

8 Signs of a Real Estate Rebound – How Is the North Shore Faring?

I read an interesting article by Amy Fontinelle in the San Francisco Chronicle last night. It was called 8 Signs of a Real Estate Rebound and in it she talked about the eight signs of a recovery and how the U.S. real estate market was doing on each of them. The 8 signs are:

1. Pending Home Sales
2. Housing Starts
3. New and Existing Home Sales
4. Home Inventory
5. Housing Affordability
6. Mortgage Applications
7. Mortgage Interest Rates
8. Real Estate Mutual Funds

Her conclusion: signals are mixed for the U.S. market as  a whole. Pending home sales are up (good). Housing starts are down vs. January but about even with February of last year (mixed). New home sales reached a record low (bad). Existing home sales are up (good). Home inventory is lower than last year (good). Housing affordability has improved (good). Mortgage applications are down (bad). Mortgage interest rates are still near historic lows (good). Real estate mutual fund returns are strong (good).

Although there are more positive than negative signs, it is hard to predict where the market will go from here because 1) we don’t know what impact the expiration of the home buyer tax credit will have; 2) even though mortgage rates are still very low, credit is still hard to get; 3) it doesn’t matter how low rates are, people who are unemployed can’t get a mortgage; 4) there is still that shadow inventory of looming foreclosures that will keep prices down and stifle new home construction.

How Does the North Shore Compare?
Real estate is local, so the big question is whether the North Shore mirrors the U.S. on key indicators.

Pending Home Sales: While the national pending sales number was 17% better than last year,  North Shore pending sales were 69% higher than last year.

Home Sales: Home sales on the North Shore for the 1st quarter of 2010 were up 56% over 1st quarter of 2009.

Home Inventory: The inventory of homes for sale on the North Shore is down 9% vs. last year.

Prices: Average home prices on the North Shore are down 7% vs. last year. Not good for sellers, but may be enabling some people to move to the North Shore who were priced out of the market before.

Absorption rate: This is the measure of how many weeks it will take to sell the existing inventory at the current rate of sale. 26 weeks is considered neutral. Anything higher is a buyer’s market. The North Shore’s absorption rate was 70 weeks in March. High, but down 39% vs. March of last year.

Supply/demand ratio: This is the number of active listings there are on the market for every one that sells. At the ideal number of 6,  homes are being sold for exactly the right price. The North Shore number is 16, which is high but improved over last year when the number was 26.

The conclusion: the North Shore is not out of the woods yet, for the same reason the U.S. is not, but all of the numbers are more positive than they were a year ago, and better than the national averages. Stay tuned as we monitor changes in interest rates, unemployment and foreclosures and their impact on the housing market recovery.

Tags: North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends

Glencoe Real Estate Trends – March

The Glencoe market seems to be stabilizing. Although the numbers are nowhere near where they were at the market’s peak, they have definitely improved versus this time last year. Buyer activity is up as consumers seek to take advantage of low interest rates as well as the soon-to-expire tax credit.

Glencoe Home Sales

March home sales (including single family houses, condos and townhomes) were up 40% vs. March of last year (caution: low base size) and up 17% over last month.

Glencoe Home Prices

The price declines we have been experiencing since early 2008 appear to have leveled off, which is certainly good news. Both the median and the average prices were up in March versus last month and last year. The median sales price was $1,175,000, up 19% vs. last year and up a whopping 95% over last month. The average sales price was $1,162,929, up 31% vs. last year and up 99% vs. last month. Before you get excited and conclude that the market is back and prices are returning to peak levels, keep in mind that this big increase in average and median price was driven by the fact that in March there were 5 houses sold over $1,000,000 and one under, while in February there were 5 houses sold below $1,000,000 and only one above $1,000,000.

Inventory and Months Supply

In March there were 120 homes for sale in Glencoe, up slightly from last month (typical seasonality) and down 18% from March 2009. More importantly, the months supply of homes (the number of months it would take to sell all of the homes at the current rate of sale) is 17 months. This is higher than what we consider a balanced market (6-7 months), but a lot better than March 2009 when there was a 29 month supply of homes on the market.

Market Time

Days on market (DOM) is the average number of days a property is on the market before it sells. This number continues to rise, although the rate of increase has slowed, fortunately. The DOM for March was 185 days, up 64% from last month but only up 3% from last year.

Tags: Glencoe, North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends