Local home sales were up 32% year over year in February 2010 from February 2009, however the median home sale price went down 10.3% during that same time period. Crain’s Chicago Business just published an article that highlights this data in a neat fashion.
The good news – the number of homes that sold year over year is up. The bad news - median home prices are still declining. This is due in large part because of the number of foreclosures and short sales prevalent in this market. I’ve said it before and I continue to reiterate that until these sales clear the market, we will continue to see downward pressures on home values. Perhaps a bright spot in all of this is that Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported that the number of homeowners falling behing on their mortgage payments declined in 4th Quarter 2009 compared against the 3rd Quarter 2009.