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Looking at price histories in Chicago, I see many many properties priced at their 2004-2006 values. We are on the edge of a large group of folks coming to terms with being underwater IMO.
I live in one of the more premier 'hoods of Chicago and have come to terms I am underwater. I totally agree that Chicago homeowners are in a state of denial. Only foreclosures and short salses are moving--and not moving very fast. Everyone else is priced at the point where they can get out relatively unscathed, and guess what, they are not moving. I have stopped making payments and wonder how long before the rest of us suckers that bought in '05/06 will come out of denial. My guess is that Illinois being a recouse state have owners scared, but with salaries stagnant and unemployment high/rising, I wonder how long it will take before they realize that they could be paying for 5-10 years to be in the black, have contributed nothing to their retirement during that time, and find themselves having babies in 2-br condos.
inflection point
2009 Dec 23, 7:42am
If you are looking for a home please read Patrick's Housing Crash page under "It is still a bad time to buy a home". See the left margin.
Patrick specifies to use these conditions to make the decision
annual rent / purchase price = 3% means do not buy
annual rent / purchase price = 6% means borderline
annual rent / purchase price = 9% means ok to buy
I would follow those guidelines .
In the Chicago Tribune over the weekend there was a quote saying that buyers thought they were suckers if they did not get the foreclosure price.
 How does one find the forclosure price? I sure as hell do not want to be a sucker. And it sure seems that asking prices around here are still very high although they all claim to be reduced.
#housing