June 2010 And Mid Year Quarter Real Estate Market update for O'Fallon IL.
Nationwide: More money for troubled homeowners...
The Treasury Department has approved another $1.5 Billion to help homeowners in the five States with the highest levels of foreclosure rates. Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada all will be receiving the additional funds. Currently on the table for discussion (and should pass by the end of the month) is another 600 Million for the next five states on the list, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island.
Locally:
The end of the tax credit came and went...then came back. The original June 30thdeadline for closings was extended to assist those caught in the backlog of home loans in the pipeline that could not get the loan packages completed on time. Some interesting numbers for O'Fallon and the tax credit's impact on the local market. There was actually very little difference between June of 2009 and June of 2010 in the number of closings inO'Fallondespite the increased number of first time homebuyers taking advantage of the credit. For example there was exactly 1 more closing this June than in 2009...not what I would call an overpowering impact. The graphs below will illustrate this far better than I can.
Looking at 2010 individually it shows June was by far the most active month in 2010 year to date
However when you look at the same time period from 2009-2010 it shows only marginal improvement excluding a spike in April:
Year to date numbers are "almost" encouraging. It is still very difficult to ascertain the true impact of the credit, but a clearer picture should be available by mid August. However the numbers are pointing in the right direction:
Good News! Average Days on Market (DOM) has fallen! This is the time it takes from when a house is first listed to when it closes. We have gone from a 6 year high of 161 days in 2009 back down to 149 for 2010.
Price range: Bottom line...if your home is priced below $300,000 you have a FAR better chance of getting an accepted offer in an acceptable time frame. As shown below 82% of the homes closed in June 2010 were below $300,000.
Looking at this same issue expanded over the year thus far (6/30/2010) paints a much stronger picture with 91% of the homes closed in O'Fallon IL falling below the $300,000 mark.
Market Time:
Average Days on Market is still (and always will be) directly tied to sales/list price. For example average market time for June 2010 in the $200,000-$299,999 range was 104 days. If you jump over the $300K mark your market time increases to 296 days, over a 6 month increase! Go up even further to over $400,000 and it jumps to a staggering 474 days. Pricing a home correctly the first time is one of the most critical aspects of the real estate market today and sadly often ignored.
To recap, the tax credit helped on a nationwide scale, but viewing it in a hyperlocal level is difficult at best. There has been an incentive for first time home buyers in place since last year so undoubtedly there has been a benefit to the local market but how much remains to be seen.
Go Green O'Fallon! 
I was a bit dismayed by a visit from the local Boy Scouts yesterday. Seems we have less than 2,000 residents in O'Fallonparticipating in the recycling program offered by Waste Management. Folks it costs $5.66 a month. You will produce roughly 127,604 pounds of garbage in your lifetime...recycle.
Another benefit: If the community exceeds 2000 participants the price will decrease to $4.66. For more info please contact Waste Management at 1-800-989-2783.
