Home sales in the Chicago area fell 25% in July, according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors.
The decrease over July 2007, while steep, marked a slight improvement over recent periods. In the second quarter, Chicago-area home sales were down 29% compared with the second quarter last year.
"While most housing-related indicators reveal continued problems, there is some increasing evidence the supply and demand may be moving more into balance, especially in many metropolitan markets in Illinois," Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois, said in a Realtors’ release Monday.
In the nine-county Chicago region, single-family and condominium sales totaled 7,274 in July, a drop of 25.2% compared with 9,730 sales in July 2007, the Realtors’ group said in the release.
In the city of Chicago, home sales fell 20.9% in July, to 2,167 compared with 2,738 in July 2007.
The median home sale price in the Chicago area was $254,900 in July, down from $262,500 in the same period last year. The median price in the city of Chicago was $299,000 in July, down 0.3% compared with $300,000 in July 2007.
The median is the price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Statewide sales also fell 25.2% in July, to 11,021, compared with 14,738 in July 2007, the Realtors’ group said. The median sale price statewide was $199,900, a decrease of 4.8% compared with the same month last year.
“While July typically is the slower summer month for home sales in Illinois, this year the drag on the housing market is amplified by overall economic uncertainty among consumers," Kay Wirth, president of the Illinois Assn. of Realtors, said in the release.
The Realtors group's sales figures include new and existing homes. The nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Meanwhile, sales of existing homes rose 3.1% in the U.S. in July, easily beating Wall Street's expectations, as buyers snapped up deeply discounted properties in parts of the country hit hardest by the housing bust....more
Sunday
Help for Home Buyers..
When it comes to housing, it's a buyer's market -- especially for first-time home buyers eligible for new tax breaks.
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, passed by Congress at the end of July with hopes of shoring up the ailing housing market, also includes an important tax break. First-time home buyers who purchase a home after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009, are eligible for a $7,500 tax credit (or, if the home costs less than $75,000, a credit equal to 10% of the purchase price).
This credit, however, comes with a catch. You'll have to pay it back.
Here's the good part: The credit reduces your tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis and can even boost your refund. If you owe $10,000 in taxes, you can take the credit and pay just $2,500. Or if you owe $5,000 in taxes and have paid it over the year, you can take the credit and receive all your money back with an additional $2,500.
But unlike other federal tax credits, the new credit must be paid back to the government over a period of 15 years.
Income Limits
"It's the equivalent of an interest-free loan from the government," says Bob Trinz, senior tax analyst at the tax and accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
To qualify for the credit, you (and if married, your spouse) must not have owned a principal residence during the three-year period before you buy the home. In general, the credit is available in full only if your adjusted gross income doesn't exceed $75,000 ($150,000 if you file a joint return).
The credit phases out over the $150,000 to $170,000 adjusted gross income range for joint filers ($75,000 to $95,000 for individual filers).
If you claim a $7,500 credit, you'll have to start paying it back as an extra tax amount on your federal returns at the rate of $500 per year, beginning with the tax return for the second year after you buy the new home. That is, if you buy a home this year and claim the credit, you'll have to start paying back the money when you file your 2010 return in 2011.
For more details and examples of how the new law works, visit the Web site of Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation at www.jct.gov and look for publication JCX-63-08 on the home page. For additional information on tax breaks from the Internal Revenue Service, see Publication 530 at irs.gov...more
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, passed by Congress at the end of July with hopes of shoring up the ailing housing market, also includes an important tax break. First-time home buyers who purchase a home after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009, are eligible for a $7,500 tax credit (or, if the home costs less than $75,000, a credit equal to 10% of the purchase price).
This credit, however, comes with a catch. You'll have to pay it back.
Here's the good part: The credit reduces your tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis and can even boost your refund. If you owe $10,000 in taxes, you can take the credit and pay just $2,500. Or if you owe $5,000 in taxes and have paid it over the year, you can take the credit and receive all your money back with an additional $2,500.
But unlike other federal tax credits, the new credit must be paid back to the government over a period of 15 years.
Income Limits
"It's the equivalent of an interest-free loan from the government," says Bob Trinz, senior tax analyst at the tax and accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
To qualify for the credit, you (and if married, your spouse) must not have owned a principal residence during the three-year period before you buy the home. In general, the credit is available in full only if your adjusted gross income doesn't exceed $75,000 ($150,000 if you file a joint return).
The credit phases out over the $150,000 to $170,000 adjusted gross income range for joint filers ($75,000 to $95,000 for individual filers).
If you claim a $7,500 credit, you'll have to start paying it back as an extra tax amount on your federal returns at the rate of $500 per year, beginning with the tax return for the second year after you buy the new home. That is, if you buy a home this year and claim the credit, you'll have to start paying back the money when you file your 2010 return in 2011.
For more details and examples of how the new law works, visit the Web site of Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation at www.jct.gov and look for publication JCX-63-08 on the home page. For additional information on tax breaks from the Internal Revenue Service, see Publication 530 at irs.gov...more
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