Housing market hasn't cooled off

By Sascha de Gersdorff
Medill News Service
Posted November 3, 2003

Existing single-family home sales in Illinois jumped 10.2 percent in the third quarter, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.

More than 36,800 Illinois homes were sold from July through September, compared with 33,465 in the same period last year. The median price of a single-family home increased, too, up 8.1 percent to $181,000 from $167,500.

Industry experts credit a “hot housing market” and attractive mortgage rates of around 6 percent for the surge of third-quarter activity, and they expect the hot pace to continue.

“The third quarter is not usually the best of the year, but the rates were great, making it an excellent time to be a buyer,” said Yuval Degani, president of Dream Town Realty in Chicago.

Degani said the second quarter historically brings in the highest home-sales volume, but 2003 has seen sales rise throughout the year. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, single-family home sales statewide totaled 92,510, up 6 percent from 87,464 in 2002.

The number of sales in the Chicago area leaped 10.5 percent to 23,733. In that same time period, the median price of those homes increased to $233,400 from $214,900.

Significantly contributing to the area’s high sales volume were Chicago condominium sales. They rose 18.8 percent in the third quarter to 14,265.

“The condominium market experienced exponential sales levels during the quarter,” said IAR President John C. Kmiecik in a release. “More first-time buyers are choosing to own rather than rent, motivated by the low mortgage rates and ample supply.”

Not only are rates still low, but some lenders are relaxing down-payment requirements.

“One of the hottest products we’ve seen over the last few months is 100 percent financing,” said Sammy Averbuch of Chicago-based Providential Bancorp Ltd. “It allows people to get into homes with no money down.