Weekly Update

Though tragic, last week’s unfortunate assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto created only a minor ripple in stock and bond markets. Housing was again the more pressing concern. On that sinking front, home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas in October were down 6.7% from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price indexes. The decline exceeded the previous record year-to-year decline of 6.3% in April 1991, when the economy was emerging from a recession. Meanwhile, sales of new homes continued on their downward spiral, falling to a 12-year low in November. Specifically, purchases tanked 9% to an annual pace of 647,000, which exceeded even the lowest estimate. The continued slowdown in home sales is also taking a toll on mortgage demand, with mortgage-application activity – both refinance and purchase – recently posting at the lowest level of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Eric P. Egeland
RE/MAX Advanced
847.337.7090
www.HomesInBG.com

Weekly Recap

The economic news was generally positive last week, though every release seemed to be accompanied with a “yes, but.” For example, housing starts posted at 1.187 million annualized units in November, which beat the consensus estimate by over 10,000 units. But the nattering nabobs were compelled to douse any optimism with multiple buckets of pessimism, such as “the industry is still struggling with significant overhang,” and “housing starts would need to fall to around 500,000 annually to soak up the excess inventory.”

The GDP rose at a robust 4.9% annual rate – the strongest rate since 2003. GDP growth was powered in large part by continued consumer spending (which only occurs when consumers are confident about the future). In fact, consumer spending rose 1.1% in November, the most in more than two years, as incomes grew and shoppers took advantage of early holiday discounts. But the highlighted media response to the strong economic growth came from one prominent, pessimistic economist: “You can hear the screech and see the skid-marks of the economy slowing down from the third to the fourth quarter. We're going to go from this supercharged rate to somebody-slammed-on-the-brakes.'' There are still serious issues that must be confronted in both housing and mortgage lending. Yes, inventory levels are too high, and prices will likely need to fall further to stimulate more demand. Foreclosures are also on the rise. RealtyTrac reported 201,950 foreclosure filings in November, a 68% increase over November 2006. (But November's filings were actually a 10% decrease from October's 224,451, which showed a spike after an 8% decrease from August to September.) There's work to be done, to be sure, but it's important (and fair) to appropriately note improvements when they occur.

Eric P. Egeland
RE/MAX Advanced
773.294.4491
www.HomesInBG.com

Buffalo Grove updates for 12/12/07

Fairly slow day yesterday.

Single Family Homes
-1402 Westchester a 4bed 3.5bath was listed for $625,000
-580 Checker a 4bed 2.5 baht closed for $435,000

Attached Homes
-3 New Listings
-101 Old Oak a 2bed 2bath listed for $225,000
-2514 Waterbury a 3bed 2.5bath condo was listed for $475,345
-150 Lake Blvd. a 2bed 2bath condo was listed for $191,900
-No closings

Fed cuts rate a 1/4 point

The Federal Reserve cut benchmark U.S. interest rates by a modest quarter-percentage point on Tuesday. Many economists were expecting a 50 basis point cut. The central bank's decision takes the federal funds rate, which governs overnight lending between banks, down to 4.25 percent. Wall Street was disappointed with the modest cut, but is is still a move that should help mortgage rates.

Mortgage Freeze

The big news story of the week was undoubtedly the Bush administration's mortgage rate freeze negotiated with the country's largest lenders. The plan, dubbed Hope Now, is an alliance of financial-industry stalwarts, (including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) that could provide relief to up to 1.2 million borrowers.Hope Now offers assistance in one of three ways: freezing rates (up to five years), refinancing into a new private mortgage, or obtaining a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Borrowers who have rates scheduled to adjust between January 2008 and July 2010 and who are current on their payments and have been no more than 60 days late in the past year qualify for the deal.The timing of the announcement was fortuitous, to be sure; the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that homeowners fell behind on their mortgage payments at the highest rate in more than two decades last quarter.Fortunately, the economy continues to mitigate some of the subprime damage and defy conventional wisdom that it's headed toward a recession. On the contrary, employers hired more workers than forecast in November, with payrolls rising by 94,000 and hourly wages increasing 0.5% to $17.63.Just as important, workers – new and old – were found to be more efficient: Worker productivity accelerated more than forecast in the third quarter, rising at an annual rate of 6.3%, while labor costs dropped 2%, the most in four years. Greater efficiency eases pressure for companies to raise prices to counter rising energy costs, further diminishing the threat of inflation.Last week the 30-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.96%, while the 15-year fixed rate loan averaged 5.65%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. These are levels unseen in over two years.

Eric P. Egeland
RE/MAX Advanced
847.337.7090
www.HomesInBG.com

Buffalo Grove's November 2007 Closing Stats

Due to numerous requests, I decided to post the closing statistics for the month of November.

Buffalo Grove Single Family Homes
-16 Single Family Homes Closed
-The closing prices ranged from $215,000-$740,000
-Average closing price was $403,059
-Average market time was 201 days
-Sold properties closed averaging 95.11% of their Final List Price

Buffalo Grove Attached Homes
-17 Attached Homes Closed
-The closing prices ranged from $130,000-$365,000
-Average closing price was $211,753
-Average market time was 152 days
-Sold properties closed averaging 94.95% of their Final List Price

BG Realty Report for 11/28/07

Buffalo Grove Single Family Homes
-2 Price changes
-841 Twisted Oak from $433k to $425
-231 Kendall from $739,990 increased to $789,990
1051 Belmar is now pending with a list price of $239,900

Attached Homes
-2 Went under contract
-1152 Courtland a 2bed 2bath for $228,000
-178 Fox Hill a 3bed 2.5bath for $439,900
-15 Willow Parkway a 3bed 2bath for $295,900 is new to the market
-110 Steeple is now pending with a list price of $139,900

Not a lot of stats to report, but as I've been saying things are actually somewhat busy. This is the busiest Nov. I've ever experienced (not in sales, but activity of people looking...although I have had a number of deals come together here at the end of the month).

BG Realty update

I would like to apologize to all of my readers. I've been out for about 2 weeks. Surprisingly for this time of year I've been extremely busy, I've been sick, & traveling for Thanksgiving.
Anyway I'm back & will try to get everyone up to speed on whats been happening.
My last Blog was on Nov. 12th, so I'll just summarize the activity since.

BG Single Family Homes
-Gone under contract (3)
-New Listings (2)
-Price Reductions (5)
-Cancelled Listings (13)....looks like some people are taking a break for the holidays
-Closed Listings (7)
-Pending (2)
-Temporarily off the market (1)

Attahached Homes
-Gone under contract (9)
-New Listings (6)
-Price reductions (8)
-Cancelled listings (9)
-Closed Listings (9)
-Expired Listings (3)
-Pending Litings (2)
-Temporarily off the market (7)
-Rented (1)

The equity markets have tumbled again over the last 2 weeks & banks continue to cry about their exposure to the subprime loan markets. We'll monitor this through the rest of the year.

As a slight bit of optimism, I'm seeing more activity on my listings & my buyers seem to be more proactive on looking & buying before year end.

I'll try to keep more current with the updates & apologize again for the gap.

BG Activity over the weekend

Once again I'll be commenting on the equity markets due to the continued slide.

We had another down day on Wall Street.
Dow -.42%
Nasdaq -1.67%
S&P -1%

In the Real Estate world, we had some activity over the weekend.

Buffalo Grove Single Family Homes
-5 Homes went under contract ranging with list prices ranging from $209,950-$699,000
-5 New listings
-288 Cottonwood a 4bed 2bath home listed for $359,900
-730 Shady Grove Ln. a 4bed 2.5bath home listed for $439,900
-1100 Lockwood Dr. a 4bed 2.5bath home listed for $447,500
-1339 Green Knolls a 5bed 3.5bath home listed for $519,900
-1902 Brandywyn Ln a 3 bed 2.5bath home listed for $599,000
-4 Price reductions
-No closings

Buffalo Grove Attached Homes
-Nothing under contract
-New listing @ 740 Weidner a 2bed 1bath condo for $169,000
-4 Price reductions
-1 closing...351 Town Place Cricle #304 a 2bed 2bath closed for $252,000 with a list price $259,900

Slight pickup in activity

We had a slight pickup in activity yesterday & I can already see some things coming through for today.

In yesterday's BG Single Family Home action
-2 properties went under contract
-3bed 3.5bath @ 604 Caren is under contract & had a list price of $424,900
-4bed 2.5bath @ 1010 Hobson is under contract & had a list price of $519,500
-3 New listings
-3bed 2bath @ 880 Shady Grove listed for 319,900
-4bed 2bath @ 488 Lauren listed for $349,000
-3bed 2bath @ 579 Sycamore listed for $359,500
-830 Wedgewood was reduced from $899,900 to $879,999
-2 Closings
-761 Woodhollow closed for $324,000
-2108 Birchwood closed for $615,000


Attached market was much slower
-161 Fabish a 2bed 2.5bath in Old Farm went under contract with a list price of $254,900
-New listing @ 8 Oak Creek....a 2bed 1bath condo for $159,900
-20k price increase? 860 Weidner was $299,900 & is now @ $319,900

It was good to see action in the Single Family home market again, actually very good to see at this time of the year.

I know this is a Real Estate blog, but today we saw another terrible move to the downside in the stock market.
11/9/07 Dow -1.69% Nasdaq -2.52% S&P -1.43%

What does this have to do with the Buffalo Grove Real Estate market?... Actually a lot. These recent moves down are due to credit concerns with more banks reporting more problems. This effects consumer confidence, lending, & the list goes on & on. Hopefully we'll see a turnaround soon, but I'm personally doubtful....I've been wrong before & hopefully I'll be wrong about this.

BG Updates

Not a lot of activty in yesterdays market.

For Single Family Homes
-No New listings
-No Price changes
-1 closing...1100 Old Barn closed for $740,000. This was the last of the 19 homes built by Jacobs in the subdivision to close

For the attached housing market
-3 new listings
-2bed 2bath condo @ 621 Hapsfield #107 listed for $199,900
-2bed 2bath condo @ 549 Lyon listed for $259,900
-2bed 2bath condo @ 125 N. Buffalo Grove Rd. listed for $319,900
-2 price reductions
-1 property under contract...1056 Fremont with a list price of $224,900

Stock market was down again today, so jitters continue to roll in the Real Estate market as well.

Nov. 6th BG Activity

Reports for Buffalo Grove's Single Family homes for 11/6/07
-1 New listing on the market....4bed 3.5bath home on 142 Toulon was listed for $499,000
-1410 Village was reduced from $400,000 to $355,000 (foreclosure)
-1410 Countryside closed yesterday for $350,000...the list price prior to close was $369,900

Reports for Buffalo Grove's Attached homes for 11/6/07
-965 Hidden Lake went under contract...list price was $224,900
-2 New listings
-6 Villa Verde a 1bed 1bath condo was listed for $85,000
-250 Lake a 2bed 2bath condo was listed for $199,900
-5 price reductions
-No closings

Market times are continuing to build in BG & surrounding areas.

BG activity

We've had a little more action in the RE market the last few days.

From Nov. 3rd - Nov. 5th

-Single Family Homes
-1 went under contract with a list price of $324,900
-2 came on the market with prices of $319,000 & $447,500
-7 price reductions

-Attached Housing
-2 went under contract with list prices of $139,900 & $249,900
-5 came on the market with prices ranging from $129,900-$299,000
-5 price reductions
-126 Morningside Circle closed on 11/5 for $213,000

Due to some requests, I'll putting some stats together for the month of Oct. sometime this week so keep checking daily.

Slow Friday

Not a tremendous amount to report for the BG real estate market today.



-A 4bed 2.5bath single family home @ 810 Prairie Lane closed today for $460,000

-A 2bed 2.5bath townhome @ 1232 Clearview Ct closed today for $233,000

In the national picture-Foreclosure rates are on the rise-Mortgage rates end lower on the week-30 yr. fixed 6.33%-15 yr. fixed 5.99%-1 yr. adjustable 5.66%

Day 1 Buffalo Grove Real Estate

As we close in on the last 2 months of 2007 the real estate market in Buffalo Grove & the surrounding areas are starting to cool.

-2 Single family homes came on the market ranging in price from $315,000-389,900
-1 Single family home went under contract with a list price of $350,000
-2 Single family homes closed at prices of $320,000 & $645,000

-3 Condos/Townhomes entered the market ranging from $139,900-250,000
-No condos/TH's went under contract
-4 Condos/TH's closed ranging in price from $155,000-252,000

The Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds rate yesterday by .25
The Federal Funds Rate is currently @ 4.5%