Chicago Realty Reality Check

Just the facts please! Click on the above chart to enlarge and view the reality. Find your price range and look at "Months of Inventory" which tells us, assuming no new listings coming on the market, how many months it would take to sell the existing inventory of properties in that range. Also, here's Standard & Poor's Home Price Index showing the national decline in home prices. It shows the 18th consecutive drop in growth since December 2005. The most recent data comes from May. But the father of the index, economist Robert Shiller, says he sees nothing that indicates a turnaround. And while eight of 20 metropolitan areas his index tracks, have been spared, Chicago is not one of them. It is now in decline, according to the index, which tracks actual home prices by looking at the selling price of specific homes in the past versus recently. That's different than looking at average figures. So brace yourself and take a look. I am not one who thinks the market will rebound to earlier price growth any time soon. The realty reality in Chicago is driven by supply and demand. The supply will eventually dwindle over the next 2-3 years as developers wake up to reality. If interest rates remain attractive and the economy stays steady then demand will improve creating a resumption of price growth but not before 2009-10. If you must sell then get real with what your price needs to be. If you are a buyer planning to stay put for 3-5 years then the time is right for a deal on the home of your dreams. If you arn't certain you can stay put that long then rent. If you are trading up to a more expensive home, taking a lower amount on the sale of your existing property and trading up to a more expensive property can work to your benefit.