We hope you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving! 2012 shall be the beginning
of our 5th year of recession in the real estate industry. We believe the glass is half full. We had
21 homes come under contract in October. The only other month with more, in the past 2 years,
was July with 22. Through October, 144 homes have closed in Woodridge compared to 125 last
year ? a 15.2% increase. Also in October we had 138 homes for sale. That is the lowest amount
of homes for sale since January of 2010 when 132 were for sale. This shows that we have 6.6
months of housing inventory. A normal market is 4 to 5 months. This is all good news. Some
more good news. ? we had a closing in October where the buyer bought a $150,000 home, put
$5,000 down and received a 3.75% mortgage for 30 years. These are the lowest interest rates we
have ever seen for mortgages. A GREAT time to BUY!
Not everything is rosy. Our economy and job market are so tenuous that people are afraid to
buy because they might not have a job. What do they do if they buy a home and get laid off?
The other problem is foreclosures and short sales ? all related to the job market. If you lose your
job, you lose your home. These homes account for 30% of our sales. These homes sell for 20 to
40% below the other homes not in trouble. This has caused our market values to drop again this
year ? 13.2% from 2010. Your $300,000 home in October is worth $260,000 today. A recent
housing report showed that 48% of homeowners in Chicagoland with a mortgage owed more
than their house is worth. We are hoping that with an election year in 2012 that the politicians
will do something about housing. So far, they have hung us out to dry. People buy homes, then
they buy appliances, carpeting and furniture. The economy gets going. Let´s cross our fingers
and hope the politicians get it.
2011 was the best year Kranz Real Estate has had since 2007. We sell homes for 3% ? give
Senior Citizens discounts ? and offer FREE Staging to make our properties 100% ready to sell.
We sell homes other agents can´t. We can sell your home too. There are still many homes with
Great prices if you wish to upgrade or know of anyone buying their first home. We cover all the
bases. Give us a ring if we can help. Have a very Merry Christmas!
Until next time, your neighbors in Winston Hills.