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Community Corner

Real Estate Market Still Rocky For Area

The total sales for homes in McHenry County dropped 18 percent in past three years.

Local real estate agents hope rising interest rates and area lenders releasing more lists of foreclosed properties could stimulate the housing market.

“I’m thinking homebuyers will want to buy now because interest rates are inching up,” said Cindy Hurley, a real estate agent who works for Coldwell Banker Primus, Algonquin. “And with all the short sales and foreclosures, people are getting off the fence and deciding to buy.”

More homes on the market around the $100,000 price point may also spur sales, Hurley said.

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Cathy Burley, a real estate for Coldwell Banker Primus in Cary, agreed. She also said while banks don’t like short sales, they may be forced to do more. 

“The banks have been sitting on lists of foreclosed properties,” Burley said. “A bank doesn’t like to take a loss when it sells a property for less than the mortgaged amount.”

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Hurley and Burley say they are optimistic about home sales, but just how and when housing market turns around is anybody’s guess. 

The total sales volume in the county fell 18 percent in past three years. In 2008, 2,934 properties were sold for $675 million, according to the McHenry County Housing Commission. Those numbers fell to 2,887 properties selling for $588 million in 2009. Last year, 2,872 properties were sold for $557 million.

The National Association of Realtors said nationally sales dropped 4.8 percent to 4.91 million units in 2010. That was slightly lower than 2008, which had been the weakest level since 1997, according to an Associated Press article that ran last week. The article went on to say home prices have been depressed by a record number of foreclosures and high unemployment. Many potential buyers held off on purchases last year, fearful that prices hadn't bottomed out yet.

Dan Olson, director of community development for the Village of Lake in the Hills, said in 2005 the village issued permits for 54 single-family homes and 136 multifamily homes. Last year the village issued only three permits for single-family homes and no permits for multifamily homes. But those numbers, Olson added, can be misleading because Lake in the Hills is running out of space on which to build new homes.

The village is expecting to issue seven single-family permits and four multifamily permits this year, Olson said.

And a developer is expected to start work on a 92-unit senior housing project across the street from Village Hall.

Olson said builders are telling him that their sales are "still very slow," but they are hopeful there will be some modest increase this year.

Hurley said she's doing well because she specializes in short sales and foreclosures.

“I’ve been involved in real estate for ten years," Hurley said. "I started out as an  investor and for the past three years I've been selling it."

Burley said she has been selling homes since 1991, and the current dip in the market is the worst she has ever experienced. But in these down times there are also a lot of opportunities.

“First time home buyers really should be taking advantage of today’s home prices and low interest rates,” Burley said.

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