State of the Lake

There are currently 727 homes on the market in Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth and Glencoe, 41 of which are pending or under contract.

The breakdown is as follows: (town name followed by # of active listings/pendings)

Winnetka:242/16
Wilmette: 275/12
Kenilworth: 64/4
Glencoe: 146/10

From Jan-May 15, 2009, a total of 121 units were sold in these communities. The average days on market (DOM) was 258. During the same time period of 2008 (Jan.1/May15), there were 163 units closed with an average DOM of 177. This data points to a slow down in the sales of properties here on the North Shore. Fewer homes were sold and they took two and a half months longer to sell. The median price also declined over the past year, but this statistic is misleading, since one or two large sales can shift the median. The best news is that during the first 5 months of 2009, homes sold for an average 91% of their list price!


If you are thinking of selling your home now, you can expect to list it for less than you would have a year ago. It may also take longer to sell, given the competition, stricter credit requirements and reluctance of people to buy.

More on this tomorrow.

If you want to talk privately about what your home is presently worth, drop me an email and we can talk!

Here's an interesting report: Certain Chicago developers and builders have taken to suing buyers who walk away from their contract to purchase before close. Damages are sought for expenditures for upgrades and the earnest money.

This is another ugly side of the burst real estate bubble. Buyers who put down payments on units during pre-construction now find out that their purchase is worth less than they had bargained for even though they got a discount for agreeing to purchase at an early stage in the the construction. In addition, some are finding that they can't get financing due to the stricter credit standards and the diminished value of their purchase. With sales slowing and inventory increasing, it's hard to convince "new to the development" buyers that all of the units in that particular development will be sold.

So, the original buyers (some might call them speculators) opt for cutting their losses and walk away. Some do this on the advice of their attorneys. Now, they may end up having to pay for more than they expected.

What do you think of this strategy?