Chicago New Home Sales
You know, I have to hand it to the Chicago Real Estate Daily, they present a much more balanced picture of the numbers than many do. Yes, new home sales are up for the quarter compared to last quarter, but they are way down from before.
We need more rational reporting of the numbers. It helps people make better decisions when they have accurate facts.
If I can help, let me know.
More positive news on new-home sales – Chicago Real Estate Daily
After enduring a three-year freefall, local homebuilders have nowhere to go but up — or at least sideways.Chicago-area new-home sales rose for the third quarter in a row on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to housing consultant Tracy Cross & Associates Inc., another sign that the worst is over for homebuilders.
Yet where the market goes from here will depend on the broader economy and job market, which isn’t likely to surge back anytime soon.
“You can’t get blood out of a turnip, and that’s where the problem is,” says Tracy Cross, president of the Schaumburg-based firm.
On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, local residential developers sold 4,666 homes in the third quarter, up 15% from a rate of 4,054 in the second quarter, according to a recent report published by the firm. The market bottomed out at 2,786 sales in fourth-quarter 2008.
The bad news is that 2009 will likely go down as the worst year for homebuilders since World War II. Even with the recent pickup, the beginning of the year was so bad that Mr. Cross expects developers to sell just 3,700 homes this year, down 42% from 6,374 in 2008 and 89% from the peak of 33,287 in 2005.
Technorati Tags: Chicago New Home Sales
