Real Estate info- buying, selling and everything in between: August 2010

First a bit of disclosure...

I stopped taking a paper years ago.  I view them about the same way I see phone books... a giant and expensive waste of paper.  However I do in fact still voraciously read various trade publications along with our local paper online.  The big news of late has been that home sales have plummeted 27% from June to July. So effective is social media that I received this news almost a dozen times before a client brought it to my attention in a printed format.

 

Our local paper managed to regurgitate the same story yesterday (read the article here) basically plummeting sales due to the expiration of the tax credit.  And while monthly numbers (June-July) are in fact down, year to date numbers are up. If you dig a bit a slightly different story starts to emerge.  Please keep in mind these numbers are for this area only... of course there are markets hit hard and they will continue to drop.

 

St Clair County saw 246 homes close in June 2010 and 172 in July.  Telling numbers, however in 12+ years of selling houses I think maybe once a buyer/client asked me to show them all of St. Clair County. Those are called referrals.   More often than not it is much more hyper-local.  So let's look at 2 of our biggest markets and the impact of the tax credit.

The two cities we will highlight make up more than 50% of total home sales in this county for June.

 

Belleville IL:

In June of 2009 there were 79 closings.  This number is important as there was no frantic rush to get things closed with a June 30 deadline.

June 2010: 79 closings.  Notice something? Exact same amount with the deadline in place.

 

O'Fallon IL:

June 2009 had 48 closings  - again  no deadline in place.

June 2010 had 49 closings with the deadline.  Tax credit  = +1 over June last year.

 

So a grand total of 1 more closing in 2 of our biggest markets in the 30 days leading up to the deadline. 

Odd this did not make it into the paper...

 

 

 

Since this is primarily an O'Fallon IL focused Real Estate site I will expand a bit further.

Now that the credit has expired and July numbers are in (August to follow shortly) we can see a bit of a drop.

July 2009 had 44 closings.  July of 2010 had 41.  Down 3 but not what I would call plummeting.

 

Now...

August is not over but already O'Fallon is ahead of last year.

August 1-25^th 2009 24 homes closed

August 1^st-25^th 2010 35 homes closed

 

Encouraging numbers as we head into the 4^th  quarter of 2010.

 

Another interesting note....not a single active REALTOR  was interviewed, Executive Officers for both of our local boards were quoted but I am fairly sure they are not currently selling homes. 

 

Countdown to a paperless office - 5 DAYS!

 

 

 

 

For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting Randy Grim you know what an extraordinary person he is.  If you have not been lucky enough to meet him and get involved then please check out the Stray Rescue Website.

This weekend is a celebration of sorts, a semi - grand opening/ open house at their new location and the "Liberation Revolution Festival" if you need a new furry friend, this is the time and place to be. 

THANK YOU O'FALLON!

 

The first load of used electronics is now on its way to being recycled.  Thank you to everyone who dropped off their old equipment...am pretty sure I saw a Commodore 64 in the pile. 

 

We will start collecting for our next drop starting October 1^st.  Click here for more info.

Our next event will be a canned food drive for the O'Fallon Food Pantry.  You can drop off items at the RE/MAX Balloon September 11^th 5:30-7:30pm at the Parcs at Arbor Green or at the display.  Hope to see you there!

 

First of all THANK YOU to all of you who came out to support Children's Miracle Network.  Proceeds from every Blizzard sold on August 5^th went to help Local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. In 2009 over $4.6 Million was raised on Miracle Treat Day alone!

 

After the spike in June with the rush to get things closed prior to the tax credit deadline (it has been extended) things seem to have settled down.  Based on the numbers for July it would appear at least locally that the extension had little effect.  However estimates nationwide put the number of homeowners who would have missed the credit in the 180,000 range.  It will be this Fall before we get a "true" image of the market but expect sales to continue to soften a bit as we go into the 3^rd and 4^th quarter. Numbers for closed homes July 1 2010- July 31 2010:

Closed: 39

Re-sale: 37 Average Sales Price $194,799 Average Days On Market 149

New Construction: 2 Average Sales price $288,178 Average Days on Market 116

 

July numbers, while still strong, have slipped a bit from June as mentioned above. This is most likely due to the original expiration date set forth for June 30^th.  That said...only one more home closed in June of 2010 than June of 2009 so the true impact remains to be seen.

 

 

Price range continues to remain critical in O'Fallon.  In July 90% of the homes closed were below $300,000.  Average price for the $100,000-$199,999 range was $160,784 and for the $200,000-$299,999 was $241,638 no real surprises here.

 

 

 

Looking at numbers for July 2005- July 2010 again shows no great surprise with about an 11% decrease from July 2009-July 2010.

 

 

Year to date numbers are stronger over last year, actually 2010 YTD is up 8.5% over the same span for 2009.

 

More reason for optimism,  as of August 6th there are 63 homes under contract in O'Fallon.

 

Once again we wish to thank you for helping to support CMN if you did not get a Blizzard yesterday, don't panic they make them everyday;) and if you wish to donate you may do so by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 5th 2010...it’s HOT go get a Blizzard from DQ and help us out. Proceeds from every Blizzard purchased at a participating Dairy Queen store will help children at your local Children's Miracle Network hospital. Diet? What diet? It’s a GREAT cause so go for it! Local DQ restaurants participating

DQ GRILL & CHILL RESTAURANT 412 S MADISON ST LEBANON, IL 62254-1609

DAIRY QUEEN BRAZIER 2411 OLD COUNTRY INN DR CASEYVILLE, IL 62232-2304

DAIRY QUEEN BRAZIER 804 N STATE ST FREEBURG, IL 62243-4004

DAIRY QUEEN BRAZIER 3260 NAMEOKI RD GRANITE CITY, IL 62040-5014

 

Great home for sale in O'Fallon IL just reduced!

 

 

On August 5th proceeds from every Blizzard purchased at participating Dairy Queen restaurants will help local Children's Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals.  Since it is going to be "Hotter than a Goat Eating a Blow Torch" ...no I did not make that up I really heard it...get some ice cream and feel good about doing it.

 

Road construction continues on the soon to be New and Improved O'Fallon/Troy Road.  Don't let the lack of activity fool you there are really folks working... the photos are from early morning.

 

Stay cool we are headed for 100 degrees this week.