Market Analysis - Bellwood, llinois 60104

The Village of Bellwood is located 13 miles west of downtown Chicago in suburban Cook County.

Bellwood's municipal neighbors include Melrose Park to the north, Maywood to the east , Westchester to the south, and Hillside-Berkeley to the west. Transportation links include the major east-west arterial streets of Butterfield Road and St. Charles Road. The major north-south arterial is Mannheim Road (Route 12-45).

The village is located at the juncture of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). Bellwood is easily accessible from all directions and commuting to Chicago is easy with service from the METRA commuter rail line and PACE bus service. O'Hare Airport is 13 miles from the village.

Most properties sell with FHA/VA or conventional financing. Recent curbs in sub-prime lending has lowered prices and lengthened marketing times. Defaults and foreclosure activity increased dramatically as ARM interest rates reset higher. This excess supply of home inventory places significant downward pressure on prices. Further, declining home prices have made re-financing more difficult.

According to the Northern Illinois MLS the median sales price in Bellwood in the twelve months ending November 21, 2008 for detached homes was $142,500.00 with 163 days on the market, with 79 sales.

Median prices have decreased -25.00% , sales volume has decreased -45.52% and marketing times have increased +45.54% over the previous twelve months.

In the twelve months ending November 21, 2007 the median for a detached home was $190,000.00 with 145 days on the market, with 112 sales.

As of November 24, 2008 there are 174 active listings of detached homes in Bellwood. At the current level of absorption of 6.58 sales per month this represents a 26.44 month supply of inventory. This is an oversupply. Housing prices are expected to continue declining until this inventory of surplus homes (excess supply) is reduced to more typical levels.

40 E. 9th Street, Chicago, IL 60605

A Condominium Market Analysis

Burnham Park Plaza is a 25 story condominium building in Chicago's Loop. Built in 1912 as the YMCA Hotel it was converted to condominium and contains 277 units.

According to the Northern Illinois MLS the average sales price in this complex in the twelve months ending November 19, 2008 was $263,294.00 with 66 days on the market, with 17 sales.

Average prices have decreased -21.07% , sales volume has decreased -41.38% and marketing times have decreased -20.48% over the previous twelve months.

In the twelve months ending November 19, 2007 the average sales price was $333,583.00 with 83 days on the market, with 29 sales.

There are currently 11 active listings in this complex with prices from $174,000.00 to $699,000.00. At the current level of absorption of 1.42 sales per month this represents 7.75 months of available inventory.

530 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Il 60611

A Condominium Market Analysis

This 30 story Near North Side condominium building was built in 2003 and contains 187 units.

According to the Northern Illinois MLS the median sales price in this complex in the twelve months ending November 19, 2008 was $610,000.00 with 200 days on the market, with 14 sales.

Median prices have decreased -0.81% , sales volume has increased +27.27% and marketing times have increased +14.94% over the previous twelve months.

In the twelve months ending November 19, 2007 the median sales price was $615,000.00 with 174 days on the market, with 11 sales.

There are currently 14 active listings in this complex with prices from $410,000.00 to $3,400,000.00. At the current level of absorption this represents approximately one year of available inventory.

STANDARD & POORS Case-Shiller Report

Home Prices Continue to Decrease 

Prices of existing single-family homes show continued declines across the United States according to the August 2008 S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

The report shows record annual declines in both the 10-City and 20-City Composite Home Price Indices of 17.7 percent and 16.6 percent. Nine regions are reporting annual declines.

Miami is reporting a loss of 28.1 percent and Tampa is  reporting a 18.1 percent loss. The three California markets are down more than 25 percent from values reported a year ago.  Las Vegas is reporting an annual return of -30.6 percent and Phoenix is reporting an annual return of -30.7 percent. San Francisco’s return of -3.5 percent was the largest monthly decline.

“The downturn in residential real estate prices continued, with very few bright spots in the data. David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, noted. “The 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite reported record 12-month declines. Furthermore, for the fifth straight month, every region reported negative annual returns. This started when Charlotte, North Carolina, was the last region to turn negative back in April 2008. Both the 10-City and 20-City Composites have been in year-over-year decline for 20 consecutive months. Of the 20 regions, 13 of them had their annual returns worsen from last month’s report.”

Standard & Poor’s October 2008 Residential Real Estate Indicators