Posted on Sep 28th, 2008
To mark Fire Prevention Week, the Clarendon Hills Fire Department will host an open house at Station One, 316 Park Ave., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. Activities include rescue equipment displays, blood-pressure screening, an auto vehicle extraction demonstration and even hot dogs and hamburgers. Call (630) 286-5430 for information.
Posted on Sep 28th, 2008
CLARENDON HILLS’ average listing prices for the week ending Sept. 17, according to stats compiled by real estate search engine Trulia:
2 bedrooms: $279,813 (down 0.4% from last week)
3 bedrooms: $409,610 (down 0.6% from last week)
4 bedrooms: $851,225 (down 0.8% from last week)
The average listing price for all homes was: $684,635 (up 1.2% from last week)
The average sales price for all homes from June to August was $732,833 and 33 homes were sold during that period, according to Trulia.
Posted on Sep 28th, 2008
Installation of sprinkler systems in new single-family homes and town houses would be required under a change approved to a model building code used by states and cities across the U.S. The change was overwhelmingly approved by building code officials who met this month in Minneapolis.
While home builders challenged the move by the International Code Council, raising doubts about whether homeowners would properly care for such systems, the National Fire Sprinkler Association joined firefighters in backing the effort, citing its life- and property-saving potential.
Individual cities and states that use the code may ignore the sprinkler mandate, which goes into effect in 2009 for town houses and 2011 for single-family homes. But the group’s adoption of the standard means more communities and states are likely to require it.
Media reports, citing industry estimates, put the cost of a sprinkler system at $3,500 for an average new single-family home.
Posted on Sep 28th, 2008
Sales of existing homes rose in the Midwest in August but were down across the nation after a healthy gain in July because of tight mortgage credit, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales also rose in the South but fell in the Northeast and West.Nationally, sales of existing homes, which includes single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million units in August from an upwardly revised rate of 5.02 million in July. That is 10.7 percent below the 5.50 million-unit pace of August 2007.
According to figures from Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.48 percent in August from 6.43 percent in July; the rate was 6.57 percent in August 2007. However, by mid-September, the 30-year fixed had dropped to 5.78 percent.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the recent drop in interest rates is an immediate impact of recent government action. “August sales reflect higher interest rates before the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and the sudden drop in mortgage interest rates over the past couple weeks is improving housing affordability,” he said. “With higher loan limits and a beefing up of the FHA program, all the mechanisms have been falling into place to increase mortgage availability.
“However, home sales will be constrained without a freer flow of credit into the mortgage market. The faster that happens, the sooner we’ll see a broad stabilization in home prices that in turn will help the economy recover,” Yun said. “Historically, housing has led the nation out of economic doldrums – there will not be an economic recovery without a housing recovery.”
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $203,100 in August, down 9.5 percent from a year ago when the median was $224,400.
Total housing inventory at the end of August fell 7.0 percent to 4.26 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a revised 10.9-month supply in July.
Single-family home sales slipped 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in August from an upwardly revised pace of 4.41 million in July, but are 9.6 percent below the 4.81 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $201,900 in August, down 9.7 percent from August 2007.
Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in August from an upwardly revised level of 610,000 in July, and are 19.0 percent below the 691,000-unit pace in August 2007. The median existing condo price was $212,600 in August, which is 7.2 percent below a year ago.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 0.9 percent in August to a pace of 1.14 million but are 12.3 percent below August 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $168,000, down 5.6 percent from a year earlier.
Posted on Sep 16th, 2008
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy filing on Sept. 15 could mean some good news for the mortgage market. Lehman’s moved led to a shift by investors to the U.S. Treasury market, which in turn pushed down yields that affect home mortgage rates. By the morning of the 15th, the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage had dropped about a 0.125 percentage point to nearly 6 percent, according to figures from Bankrate Inc.
“The Treasury’s whole goal is to get mortgage rates down,” Todd Abraham, co-head of mortgage and government debt investing at Federated Investors Inc. in Pittsburgh, told Reuters news service.
Posted on Sep 16th, 2008
Clarendon Hills’ average listing prices for the week ending Sept. 10, according to stats compiled by real estate search engine Trulia:
1 bedroom: $128, 495
2 bedrooms: $280,906
3 bedrooms: $412,046
4 bedrooms: $858,423
The average listing price for all homes was: $676,785
The average sales price for all homes from June to August was $732,833 and 33 homes were sold during that period, according to Trulia.
Posted on Sep 7th, 2008
Clarendon Hills’ average listing prices for the week ending Sept. 3, according to stats compiled by real estate search engine Trulia:
1 bedroom: $127,400
2 bedrooms: $284,386
3 bedrooms: $411,362
4 bedrooms: $841,273
The average listing price for all homes was: $673,537
The average sales price for all homes from June to August was $732,833 and 33 homes were sold during that period, according to Trulia.
Posted on Sep 7th, 2008
Clarendon Hills’ average listing prices for the week ending Aug. 27, according to stats compiled by real estate search engine Trulia:
1 bedroom: $127,400
2 bedrooms: $284,847
3 bedrooms: $413,561
4 bedrooms: $831,725
The average listing price for all homes was: $666,560
The average sales price for all homes from May to July was $619,904 and 26 homes were sold during that period, according to Trulia.
Posted on Sep 7th, 2008
Clarendon Hills’ average listing prices for the week ending Aug. 20, according to stats compiled by real estate search engine Trulia:
1 bedroom: $127,693
2 bedrooms: $290,131
3 bedrooms: $416,965
4 bedrooms: $819,910
The average listing price for all homes was: $664,310
The average sales price for all homes from May to July was $619,904 and 26 homes were sold during that period, according to Trulia.
Posted on Sep 7th, 2008
What features do buyers consider very important when searching for a home? That was a key question in a survey done by the National Association of Realtors.
The survey, which looked at purchases from late 2005 to early 2007, found that when buyers were searching for a home, their most desired features were: central air-conditioning, an over-sized garage, a walk-in closet and a backyard or play area. The most desired rooms/spaces, the NAR survey found, were garages, living rooms and laundry rooms.
