A stunning number for steady Lincoln Square. First quarter total unit sales went from 72 units in 2008 to just 28 sales in the first quarter of 2009. A 61% drop. Median price was down 11% to $269,500 from 302,500 in 2008. And yet, I still lost two multiple offers in the neighborhood. The Lincoln Square area includes about half of popular Ravenswood and the Ravenswood Gardens neighborhoods.
The story is much the same in most of Chicago's top tier neighborhoods. Lincoln Park unit sales were down 59% first quarter 2008 to 2009 with a median price drop of 6%.
Despite greater buying power with generally lower prices and low interest rates, sellers hanging on to asking prices in top tier neighborhoods coupled with consumer worries and job loss tanked the first quarter. My prediction during the "Winter of Doom" was for a later buying season in 2009 (maybe a more active fall) if interest rates stay consistently low and buyers feel like their personal situations have stabilized. We shall see.
Then again if you needed your stock portfolio to buy a house....
For other neighborhood statistics or analysis, please contact me directly.
Statistics gathered from the Chicago Association of Realtors and Midwest Real Estate Data LLC.
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