Buying a home on Chicago’s North Shore this fall can be an exciting time as you dream of settling into your new abode in Winnetka, Glencoe, Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, or any of the other charming North Shore communities. It can also be the ideal time to jump in to the North Shore Real Estate market! Oftentimes, sellers are eager to get their home sold before the holiday season hits, and so are more willing to work with buyers’ needs as far as closing dates and costs.
If you are considering buying a North Shore home this fall, there’s something you’ll want to be aware of before you begin your search. The nation is seeing a decline in affordability.
The North Shore saw a leap in sales figures of homes sold in the month of June. Across Illinois, home sales increased 14.9% over previous-year levels in June and median prices increased 9.7%. These figures show that the housing market is continuing its resurgence and marks the 24 consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases in the North Shore- Chicago area.
David Crowe, the NAHB’s chief economist, noted that, “Rising home prices signal the improving health in housing markets, and the median price of all new and existing U.S. homes sold in this year’s second quarter, at $202,000, was well ahead of the second quarter 2012 median price of $185,000.” He went on to say that, “Together with rising mortgage rates, this contributed to affordability slipping to the lowest level in more than four years.”
So, what determines a homes’ affordability? The two major factors are listing price and mortgage rates.
As we’ve seen this year, the demand has been greater than the supply, which is allowing sellers to raise the price of their home. Home prices are on the rise throughout the North Shore and across the country. While this is a good sign of a healing real estate market, it makes competition between buyers a little more stiff. You may have to be prepared to pay a little more on a home you love to avoid being outbid.
The second factor is mortgage rates. Even if home prices do eventually level out, the rise in mortgage rates doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
A recent report from a Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey noted interest rates on 30 year fixed rate loans were at record lows at 3.5 percent at this time last year and even went as low as 3.31 percent last November.
These historic lows, however, have recently started to climb and have jumped up to more than 4.5 percent, which hasn’t been seen in over two years! The survey went on to point out that at the end of June of this year, rates jumped almost .5 percent which posed the largest week-over-week increase in more than a quarter century.
If you’ve been casually looking at North Shore homes online, you may want to consider taking the plunge sooner rather than later!
As a North Shore Real Estate agent, I would be happy to sit down and talk with you about your real estate needs, timeline and budget. There are a number of beautiful homes on the North Shore Real Estate market and I would love to help you find the home of your dreams!
Contact me today to get started!
Janie Bress
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