Welcome to Summer in Central Illinois!
Welcome to my Web site! As of July 12 2008, the Champaign County Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database had 1,796 active residential listings. This represents a decline of more than 200 from our local market's all-time high in the last half of 2007, but it still represents an uncommonly high inventory for this market by historical standards.
For the first half of 2008, local MLS inventory has remained extremely stable, fluctuating within a relatively narrow range of 1,775 to 1,860 active listings. Such an extremely stable level of inventory (even if high in a historical context) is far better than a continually swelling inventory, as would be the case if nothing were selling and more properties hit the market as homeowners relocated or fell behind in mortgage payments and had to sell in distress. There are some very soft segments of our local market to be sure, most notably apartment style condominiums, but even those are seeing relatively modest downward pressure on price as a percentage of their value.
If you are new to this area, we here in Central Illinois--mercifully--did not have much of a real estate bubble to burst. The ratio of housing prices to incomes was never high enough to cause our market to depend on potentially shady financing designed to bootstrap buyers into homes that they could not afford. We therefore are not now seeing the sort of mortgage meltdown and free-falling values cycle that is afflicting some other areas of the country. Because our market did not experience out of control appreciation and speculation, we are largely immune from the downward pressure on price that is pushing back against the markets that did have the huge run-up.
Our local economy remains exceptionally robust, and continued economic worries at the national level might well contribute to decreases in mortgage interest rates over the next several months. And while our market is not undergoing any sort of fire sale, the next several months should provide an excellent buying opportunity with many properties from which to choose and plenty of sellers eager to get homes sold.
Feel free to browse the contents of my site and to meet my licensed sales partner, Lori Bellafiore. Please contact me anytime with questions or if you are contemplating the sale or purchase of a home in the area. Thank you again for your visit to my site!