According to a recent report by the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or OFHEO 2nd Qtr. 2008 Chicago
area home prices have declined 1.15% since 2007 and 1.21% since the first
quarter of 2008.
The surprising aspect of the decline in
Illinois home prices is not that it happened but the small relative percentage
of decline, especially considering the state of the national real estate
market.Overall, nationwide home prices fell 4.8% across the country in the
second quarter of 2008 compared with the second quarter of 2007, a record
drop.
Additionally, in the Chicago area alone
there were over 6000 new preforeclosures filed in July adding to the
deterioration of the Illinois home market yet Chicagoland still ranks in the top
150 in appreciation. In fact, the average Illinois homeowners has experienced a
more than 35% rate of appreciation on their home in the last 5 years despite the recent depreciation in the market!
So in the end Chicagoland homeowners
should thank the stars that they live in a relatively stable market, and be
especially thankful that they don’t live in Merced, CA (34% depreciation since
last year.)
