This is my 7th post in a series about the local real estate market in the individual communities on Chicago's North Shore. (See my recent previous posts for an overview of the North Shore real estate market and information on specific communities and watch for my next two posts which will complete the series.)
Skokie
- Skokie had a 10.1% increase in the number of homes sold in 2011 versus 2012. Increases were seen for
both single family homes (+9.6%) and condos/townhomes (+10.9%).
- Over 47% of the sales in Skokie were distressed properties. Bank-owned properties represented 31.6% of closed sales in 2011 and short sales were 15.5%.
- Inventory is below the North Shore average, but still on the high side with over 9 months of single family homes available for sale and over 13 months of condos/townhomes.
- The number of distressed properties in Skokie is higher than any of the other North Shore communities. There are 408 homes in pre-foreclosures and 180 bank-owned properties. This represents 2.3% of the total housing units (THU). This is about the same number of distressed properties that I saw in Skokie last July, though the mix has changed. In July 2011 there were 430 properties in pre-foreclosure and 159 bank-owned properties. This suggests that an increasing number of homeowners in Skokie are struggling to pay their mortgage.
- As you would expect with a high number of distressed property sales, median prices declined in Skokie. The median price for a single family home declines by 11.1% and by 23.6% for condos/townhomes.
With the high level of distressed properties in Skokie (and this number appears to be increasing) I do not expect to see prices stabilizing during 2012. However, I do expect the number of home sales to continue to increase in 2012.
More to come.
Thank you for reading! If you want to know what is going on in your local market and why, please contact me directly.
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