Housing Market Continues Strong in Naperville

National news in housing has been good recently, with pending home sales up higher than expected for February. The numbers for Naperville single family homes continue steady on a month over month basis and stronger than a year ago. All statistics used in these reports come directly from Terradatum Inc. Their source is reported multiple listing service transactions.

Sold Homes: The average price for a single family home in Naperville in March 2010 was $387,483. That is an decrease of 7.1% from the March 2009 average price of $417,116. Median prices were also down from $389,000 to $371,000. The gap between average and median price is typically around 12%. Last month it was 26%: this month it is almost 7%. The decrease in the gap is indicative of heavier activity in the lower end of the market, possibly due to an influx of first time buyers getting into the market to take advantage of the First Time Buyer’s Tax Credit before the April 30, 2010 deadline.

The number of units sold is also up for March 2010 vs March 2009 at 91 vs 67 or a 36% increase. Homes under contract had a much sharper increase to 151 from 85 for the same period one year ago; an increase of 78%. This trend has continued throughout the first quarter of 2010.

Months Supply of Inventory is a measure of how long, at the current rate of sales or absorption, would it take to sell out the market. The March  MSI is 5.9, vs 12 a year ago – a decrease of over 50%. On a national level, the number is closer to 10 for this March and 15 months for last year at the same time – another indication that Naperville trends differ substantially from national numbers.

As always, if you want more detailed information or to look at the numbers on a more hyper-local level (zip code or subdivision) simply Order your free Market Report or drop me an email.

Naperville single family homes continue strong in February

National news in housing has been mixed lately, with home sales down over previous months but still higher than a year ago. The latest NAR report is available here. The numbers for Naperville single family homes continue steady on a month over month basis and stronger than a year ago. All statistics used in these reports come directly from Terradatum Inc. Their source is reported multiple listing service transactions.

Sold Homes: The average price for a single family home in Naperville sold for $423,729 in February 2010. That is an increase of 4.9% from the February 2009 average price of $404,026. Median prices were down at $315,080 vs $345,000. The gap between average and median price is typically around 12%. Last month it was 16%: this month it is almost 26%. That type of increase is only going to be caused by a wider range of prices above the median – an indicator that the upper levels of the Naperville housing market have started, and continue to move. Over the last two months the gap is widening.

The number of units sold is also up for February 2010 vs February 2009 at 52 vs 39 or a 33% increase. Homes under contract had a much sharper increase to 106 from 65 for the same period one year ago; an increase of 63%. (Both of these numbers are higher than January 2010 also!)

Months Supply of Inventory is a measure of how long, at the current rate of sales or absorption, would it take to sell out the market. The February MSI is 7.7, vs 14 a year ago – a decrease of over 46%. On a national level, the number is closer to 16 for this February and 24 months for last year at the same time – another indication that Naperville trends differ substantially from national numbers.

As always, if you want more detailed information or to look at the numbers on a more hyper-local level (zip code or subdivision) simply Order your free Market Report or drop me an email.

Area variations in Naperville single family home pricing

In talking with new homebuyers in Naperville or transferees, I am often asked what a typical home goes for in Naperville and how much that has changed in the last several years. And the answer?  It depends; what part of town (zip code) and even within a zip code, what subdivision. The following charts give a good picture of just home wide that variation is. Of note also is the differing trends by area.

As you can see, the first chart shows all of Naperville single family homes combined. Median price has dropped from around $508,000 13 months ago to a low in November of right around $480,000. Since then we have seen a recovery in prices to just under $490,000. Keep in mind, that median price in Naperville is generally about 12% lower than average price.

Our first breakout by zip code looks at 60540 home prices. During the same time period those have gone from a high of about $590,000 to just under $500,000 in August 09 – a sharp drop over a 4 month period. Since that time median prices have been drifting in a range of $490,000 to $500,000.

Next we look at home prices in 60563. Here we see a start around the $429,000 level with a decline to the low $390,000′s in December 09. Since then we have seen a sharp rebound to about $411,000  through February 2010.

Median home prices in 60564 have yet to see much of a recovery. Since April of 09 median pricing has gone from $568,000 to about $532,000 in February 2010.

Finally we look at 60565 home prices. This area of Naperville has weathered the past year much better than any other. In fact, the median price at the end of February 2010 of $445,000, is above the median of $430,000 in April 09! There had been a rise last summer to near the current level but there was a late year valley down to the low $430′s.

This is the maximum break out level for these charts. If you want to look deeper into your specific area or subdivision, drop me an email and we can take a look.

peace

A strong January for Naperville single family home sales

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We are seeing a lot of numbers lately on this housing trend or that particular statistic on a national or regional basis and those are all well and good, but as always, here we look at what is happening to prices and sales activity for single family homes in Naperville. All statistics used in these reports come directly from Terradatum Inc. Their source is reported multiple listing service transactions. After an interesting 2009, how did 2010 start? Let’s look:

Sold Homes: The average price for a single family home in Naperville sold for $444,261 in January 2010. That is an increase of 16.1% from the January 2009 average price of $382,554. Median prices were relatively flat at $371,750 vs $366,500. The gap between average and median price is typically around 12%. This month it is around 16%. That type of increase is only going to be caused by a wider range of prices above the median – an indicator that the upper levels of the Naperville housing market are starting to move. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the coming months.

The number of units sold is also up for January 2010 vs January 2009 at 44 vs 40 or a 10% increase. Homes under contract had a much sharper increase to 78 from 61 for the same period one year ago; an increase of 28%.

As always, if you want more detailed information or to look at the numbers on a more hyper-local level (zip code or subdivision) simply Order your free Market Report or drop me an email.

Hottest subdivisions in Naperville

Image via Wikipedia

Looking for a home in Naperville? Looking to sell a home in Naperville? Ever wonder what subdivisions have the most activity in terms of homes sold? The table below shows the Top 20 that have had the most single family homes closed within the last 24 months (2008 thru 2009). Want to know what is for sale in that subdivision? Just click on the name and you will quickly see what is currently on the market.

Interested in a subdivision not listed here? Click here then enter the Zip code and start typing the  subdivision (tract) name. Select the appropriate one and view the homes. If you need additional information, let me know via one of the buttons on the right. Enjoy, and peace.

Naperville Condos & Townhomes show interesting 09 numbers

Earlier this month we looked at how single family homes did in Naperville in the past year (2009) over the previous (2008) year. And the numbers seemed to bode well for a stronger 2010. In looking at the Condo & Townhome markets for the same time period we see some interesting trends.

Sold Average:  In the year ended 12/31/2008, the average price of a condo/townhome in Naperville dropped 2.5% over the previous 12 months while the median price rose 11.6%. Moving forward, at the end of 2009, the average sale price dropped 8% over its 2008 close while median price dropped 8.2%. Overall, over the two year period, average prices declined 10.3%; median rose 2.4%.

What is interesting about these numbers is that if you look at a month by move trend analysis it shows that average sales prices are recovering in same month comparisons to previous year. As an example, December 09 was up 6.5% over December 08.

Supply and Demand: Units sold and or under contract is a measure of how active the market is. And 2009 a small decrease in units sold over 2008, but still down sharply from the levels seen in 2007. Meanwhile, units for sale, (not shown in the table) show a 6% increase from  end of year 07 (498) to end of year 09 (528). this number spiked in December 08 at 564 units for sale.

So What:  Bottom line question is what does this mean for the Naperville housing market? In reverse order, given the number of units available for sale vs the number actually selling, buyers will continue to have a lot of choice. Sellers, in order to be competitive, need to have the home in the most attractive shape possible and at the best possible market price. Given the scope of choice available, you need to be the best value in your price range. The market will not come to meet the price you feel you should get for your property. You need to be priced to the market.

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• House Prices Off To Strong Start In 2010 (news.sky.com)
• New-Home Sales Decline (benzinga.com)

And the Naperville housing numbers for 2009 say…..

Continuing from the previous post on Naperville single family home sales activity we are going to look at pricing in a little more detail and over a slightly longer term to try and get a feel for where exactly this market is and where it is headed.

The primary data source for the numbers used here is Terradatum Inc, as licensed by MRED, LLC. Some information may come from Altos Research, Inc.

Average Pricing: The bottom line measurement for homeowners is value. While this post won’t get into a philosophical discussion of just what “value” in housing means, we are looking and prices. And in 2009 Q4 vs Q1 showed an increase of 7.8% to $435,612 from $404,150! Sound good? Possibly, but if you look at the averages from the same time period a year ago – Q4 08 vs Q4 09, you will see that prices dropped by an average of 5.4% from $460,316 to $435,612.

Over the longer term Q1 08 thru Q4 09 we see prices have dropped, on average 11.7% from $493,527 to $435,612, or basically .5% per month over the last 24 months. Extended over a three year window, the overall drop is only 5.5% total! ($460,902 vs $435,612). Certainly much better than the national averages and indicative of the more stable nature of housing here in Naperville.

Median Price vs Average Price: Typically the difference between the Average Sold Price and Average Median price has ranged from $72,600 to $44,100, for an average difference of $56,000 over the time period studied, or about a 12% variation.

As always, if you want more detailed information or to look at the numbers on a more hyper-local level (zip code or subdivision) simply Order your free Market Report or drop me an email.  My next post will look at condo’s/townhome for the same periods. Check back!

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Naperville Single Family homes on the rise

It is time to take a look at the performance in Naperville single family homes on a more long term basis. If you have been following these post in 2009, you know that typically I look at the 12 week period just ended vs the previous 12 week period – basically a rolling quarter vs quarter view. That let’s us see and track recent changes in market to try and spot trends as they are occurring (important if you are trying to catch a wave at a certain point). And 2009 had some quarterly ups and downs. Nationally, and on a statewide level we have been hearing numbers from Case Schiller and NAR that all point to short term improvements in housing numbers. Since real estate is so very local, our concern is Naperville and in particular for this analysis, single family homes, over a longer term to try and see a broader view.

The primary data source for the numbers used here is Terradatum Inc, as licensed by MRED, LLC. The graph is from Altos Research, Inc, a nationally recognized supplier of real estate data.

Supply and Demand: Since market inventory has such an impact on pricing (basic supply and demand philosophy) let’s look at those numbers first. Homes For Sale, are down 18% for Q4 09 vs Q1 09 (1,297 vs 1,583) while homes Under Contract are up 6.6% (225 vs 211) and Homes Sold are up an astounding 92.5% for the same time frame (281 vs 146). So, looks like things really improved in Naperville over the course of 2009.

On a more extended basis the trend is moderated somewhat by a 2008 that was weaker than the past year.. If we look back to Q1 08 thru Q4 09 we see the following: Homes for Sale dropped 20.7% to 1,297 from 1,636. Homes Under Contract are down 12.5% to 225 from 257. Homes Sold increased 44.1% to 281 from 195.

As always, if you want more detailed information or to look at the numbers on a more hyper-local level (zip code or subdivision) simply Order your free Market Report or drop me an email.  My next post will look at pricing for the same periods. Check back!

Good Holiday News for Naperville housing market

Illinois Home Sales Record Major Gains in November from a Year Ago
Sales Up 64.0% Statewide and 71.6% in Chicago Region

This was the headline from a news release out of Springfield this week and marks the second consecutive month that double digit gains were seen in Illinois home sales numbers. Statewide total home sales (which include single-family and condominiums) in November 2009 reached 10,361 homes sold, up 64.0 percent from November 2008 sales of 6,317, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases in Illinois.

And the forecast for the next several months?

“Forecasts for December, January and February indicate sales increasing robustly in Illinois and Chicago on an annual basis, but median price movements in Illinois hold the potential for a mild recovery that is not, as yet, evident in the Chicago market,” Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois.

While statewide markets seem to be stabilizing, we like to look at the numbers on a more local level. In DuPage County median prices of homes sold (single family and conds/townhomes) are relatively flat from a year ago.

In Naperville, the average median price for single family homes is about 5.8% lower than than it was a year ago. Inventory is down about 5.7% for the same period.

All told, Naperville may not be experiencing the the same rates of recovery that other areas of the state are seeing, but then again, we did not fall as sharply either. We will continue to keep an eye on the numbers and provide our interpretation as viewed thru a Naperville lens. If you want to see additional numbers or examine them in more detail contact me at 630.542.7732 or email me. Have a great holiday season and Merry Christmas.

Mixed numbers for Naperville townhomes and condos

The numbers for attached homes in Naperville over the last 12 weeks have some positives in them: Units For Sale dropped 10% while units Sold climbed 17%. Obviously the decrease in inventory and increased sales bodes well for those who have their condos or townhomes on the market.

From a dollar perspective, prices for units Sold and Under Contract are down sharply -14% and -15% respectively. Some of this average decline in median prices could just be variations in the what units have sold (lower priced units vs higher priced units) and the seasonal nature of the market,  but some may also be reflective of a continued resetting of prices.