November 25, 2009 - It probably won’t come as a surprise to everyone, but by the end of the third quarter of this year, 21% of the Chicago metropolitan area homes were worth less than what was currently owed on them. That amounts to a total of 324,448 single-family homes and condos, according to data gathered by First American CoreLogic and printed in a Sun Times article. The national average for homes that are “under water” is 23%.

The report also states that one thing these under water mortgages had in common is that most of the home owners had taken out the loans between the years of 2005 and 2008. For just borrowers who took out loans in 2006, 40% are under water. For borrowers who took out loans in 2009 the percentage goes down a bit, with 11% of those being under water and 5% getting close to that point.

And even though Chicago condos and single-family homes were up considerably in October of this year, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Chicago real estate market is completely on the mend. Most experts have agreed that while October was a good month and November may also follow suit, sales in December and the first part of 2010 may drop off again. In a recent Tribune article, Chicago condo sales in October of this year were 29% higher than in October of 2008. There were 1,193 units that were sold. The median price of Chicago condos for October of this year was $263,000 though, which is 16.8% less than it was the same month last year.

In any case, there are still bound to be some first time home buyers who take advantage of both the extension of the $8,000 tax credit and the reduced prices of Downtown Chicago Condos.

Technorati Tags: Chicago Condo Sales, Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 7:50 pm and is filed under Market Update(t) , Luxury Condos(t) , News(t) . You can leave a response.