August 2009 Newsletter

re savvy

Events in June

1-2: Northalsted Market Days - 3500 N Halsted
1-2: Retro on Roscoe - Roscoe Village @ 2000 W. Roscoe
2: Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon - Chicago
4: Movie in the Park: Born Yesterday (1950) - 8:37pm Grant Park @ 100 S. Lake Shore Drive
7: First Fridays & Happy Hour - Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art @ 220 E. Chicago
7-9: Lollapalooza - Grant Park @ 500 S. Columbus Dr
8: Bud Billiken Parade - Fuller Park @ 2900 S. King Drive
8-9: Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival - Lincoln Park @ 2200 N. Racine
8-9: Wrigleyville Summerfest - Wrigleville @ 3309 Seminary
11: Movie in the Park: Psycho (1960) - 8:27pm Grant Park @ 100 S. Lake Shore Drive
14: Yo-Yo Ma’s Dvořák - Ravinia, ravinia.org
15-16: 51st Annual Air & Water Show - North Avenue Beach @ 1600 N. Lake Shore Drive
17: Pat Benetar / Blondie - Ravinia, ravinia.org
18: Movie in the Park: Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) - 8:17pm Grant Park @ 100 S. Lake Shore Drive
19: Neighborhood Networking & BBR w 5:30-8pm - Village Tap, 2055 W Roscoe
20: Buyer's Seminar w 6:30pm in Q Room at 565 Quincy - Learn how you can own RIGHT NOW for $5,000 down!
22-23: Lake View Music Festival - Wrigleyville @ 3600 Sheffield
25: Movie in the Park: Tootsie (1982) - 8:05pm Grant Park @ 100 S. Lake Shore Drive
26: 1st Annual Taste of the Gold Coast - 6pm-9pm - Visit www.RaymiProductions.com to purchase tickets. $5 off with discount code RAYMI
27: G. Love & Special Sauce / Michael Franti & Spearhead - Ravinia, ravinia.org
28: Jammin’ at the Zoo: Five for Fighting with Angel Taylor - Lincoln Park Zoo, 6pm-10:30pm
29-30: Bucktown Arts Fest - Bucktown @ 2238 N. Oakley Ave
29-30: Taste of Greece - Greektown @ 100-400 S. Halsted, Noon-11pm
30-31: Carrie Underwood - Ravinia, ravinia.org

Home Sales, Prices Improve in Chicago Area
By Francine Knowles, Chicago Sun-Times

Home sales and prices in the Chicago metropolitan area improved in June from May, but were down from a year earlier, according to the latest report from the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing homes dropped 8.5 percent to 7,140 last month from 7,806 sold in June 2008. They shot up 25.8 percent from May. The median price sank 18 percent last month to $210,000 from $256,000 a year earlier. The median price was up 5 percent from May.

In the city of Chicago, June home sales fell 13.1 percent to 1,982, compared to 2,282 a year earlier. Sales rose 27.2 percent from May. The median price dropped 21.8 percent in June to $242,275, compared to $309,945 in June 2008. But the price rose 7.7 percent from May.

Industry experts remain concerned about pricing despite the month-over-month gains. Geoffrey Hewings, director of the University of Illinois' Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, expects month-to-month median prices to continue to stabilize in July and August, but decline in September in Chicago and throughout Illinois.

"The concern here centers on the relationship between prices and foreclosures," he said in a statement. "There is increasing evidence that the most important factor in foreclosures is the degree to which the homeowner has negative equity in the home."

Statewide, June sales dropped 9.3 percent to 10,909 over the year and rose 20.8 percent from May. The median price dropped 16 percent to $167,900 in June from a year earlier, but was up 6.6 percent from May.
Lending problems continue to hamper recovery of the market, according to David Hanna, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors.

"Too many roadblocks are still the issue for the buyers who are ready and willing to take advantage of low rates and abundant inventory," he said in a statement. "Housing cannot lead the economic recovery with the current constraints on the entire lending process in place."

Nationally, June home sales slipped 0.2 percent from a year earlier to nearly 4.9 million, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales were up 3.6 percent from May, the third consecutive month-over month improvement. The median price was down 15.4 percent at $181,800 last month from a year earlier. Inventory totals are 14.9 percent below a year ago, the group said.

"This is another hopeful sign," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement. "If we can keep the volume of sales above the level of new inventory, prices could stabilize in many areas around the end of the year."

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