County sees rise in home sales, dip in median price
More homes were sold in Champaign County last month compared with a year ago, but they sold at a lower price.
The median sales price for homes, including condos, sold in Champaign County in September was $135,500, down about 16 percent from September 2008, when the median price was $162,061, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
The number or sales for the month in the county, however, was up almost 16 percent, from 121 in September 2008 to 140 in September 2009.
That's good news, said Fred McDonald, Realtor with The County Realtors in Tuscola and president of the Champaign County Association of Realtors.
"The lower-priced homes and the tax credit are driving those number of sales. We still have challenges for getting those top-dollar homes sold," he said.
And that's why the National Association of Realtors and other groups are working to extend or expand the tax credit, he said.
The $8,000 federal tax credit for new homebuyers expires Nov. 30.
In Champaign County, homes under $100,000 are being sold more quickly than any other segment in the market, said Kathy Simmons, Realtor with Remax Choice in Champaign.
Champaign County has a lower inventory of houses that typically draws first-time buyers, Simmons said.
Statewide, home sales were up year-over-year for September, the first time since March 2006, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
Total home sales in Illinois last month came in at 10,350, up 3.3 percent from September 2008. The median price in the state for September 2009 was $160,000, down 9.3 percent from $176,450 in September 2008. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less, according to the association.
The median sales price for homes sold in Vermilion County was $65,000 in September, up from $60,400 in September 2008. In Douglas County, the median price was $86,000, up from $77,000 in September 2008. And in Piatt County, the median price was $129,000, up from $76,250.
The median home sale price for the Chicago area, which includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties, was $199,000 in September 2009, down 10.8 percent from $223,000 in September 2008.
In the Chicago area, year-over-year home sales were up for the third consecutive month, up 5.9 percent to 6,862 total home sales (single-family and condominiums) sold in September 2009 compared with 6,477 homes sold in September 2008.
In the city of Chicago, September home sales were up 5.8 percent to 1,918 sales compared with 1,813 homes sold in September 2008. The median price for homes sold in the city in September 2009 was $225,000, down 16.2 percent from $268,600 in September 2008.
The state average for the number of days a home is on the market has been 139, which is up slightly from last year, McDonald said. But locally the average number of days a home is on the market is 91, he said.
So far this fall, sales have not slowed down too much, Simmons said.
"First-time buyers are not tied to school calendars," she said.
Usually in mid-November business will slow down and continues to be slow through the winter holidays, according to Simmons. As for January and February, they tend to be dependent on the weather, she said. If it's sunny, more people tend to look at homes than if the weather were freezing and sleeting.
In a release from the state association, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, said the sales news was encouraging and the price declines seem to be moderating.
"However, the prospects of a jobless recovery from the recession will continue to exert restraint on a more robust recovery of the housing market. Illinois tends to enter recessions later than the U.S. and take longer to recover," he said in the release.
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