Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Chicago no. 2 in super-fast home sales
By: Abraham Tekippe
March 15, 2013
March 15, 2013
Chicago ranked No. 2 for
so-called “flash sales” — homes that go under contract in 24 hours or
less — with 261 sales recorded in the past five months, according to a report
released today by Seattle-based Redfin. Only Phoenix ranked higher, with 540.
“Your average person now knows that now is the best opportunity
that they'll ever have probably in their lifetime to buy real estate,” said
Thaddeus Wong, co-founder of Chicago-based @properties. “There are so many
buyers that are looking that have lost out on houses in multiple-offer
situations that when the buyer finds the house that they really want, they just
pay the asking price.”
The “flash sale” numbers point to pent-up demand in the local
housing market, where the inventory of homes for sale dropped to a six-year low in 2012. The
number of existing homes for sale in the Chicago area fell more than a third
last year to just under 39,000, about 4.7 months of supply, according to
multiple listing service Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED).
Those numbers, coupled with rising home prices, which increased 2.2 percent in the Chicago
area in 2012, are forcing buyers to act quickly to take advantage of current
market conditions.
“In this market, we have pressure from a couple of variables: No.
1, you have the pressure of increasing interest rates; and No. 2, you have the
pressure of appreciation,” Mr. Wong said. “The speed at which somebody enters
the market right now is crucial to their investment.”
Still, the limited supply, particularly in the city's most
desirable neighborhoods, hasn't translated to buyers paying more for homes than
they're actually worth, Mr. Wong said.
“When a home goes on the market today and it's overpriced, it
still doesn't sell,” he said. “Buyers are not willing to overpay for real
estate today.”
Mr. Wong added that as frustrating as the fast-paced market can be
for some homebuyers, it's a necessary step in housing recovery that will likely
continue into 2014.
“The only way that we're going to get back to a balanced market is
if we go through this period,” which will help generate confidence in the
market, he said. “Once that confidence reaches the average consumer, where they
feel that the foundation of the market has stabilized, then we will see
continued growth.”
