Sellers settle for less in first half of '09

Up until this year, the real estate recession could be seen in Chicago mostly in the declining number of home sales — and time on the market — but not necessarily in the prices of homes that have sold.

But this year officially marks the end of that trend: The median prices of homes sold in the city of Chicago have fallen significantly. And it hasn’t been a subtle shift.

In order to see how we’re doing halfway through 2009, I calculated the median price of homes sold in Chicago between January and June of each year, going back to 2002. I then looked at how the Jan-June prices changed from year to year. Take a look:

Prices recorded from January to June increased over the previous year each time from 2003 through 2008. Last year, which was miserable from a time-on-market and number of sales perspective, nonetheless saw a small increase in the prices of recorded transactions. But in the first half of 2009, sales came in at a much lower price point. Attached units saw a 34 percent drop and detached units saw an 11 percent drop.

Some more detailed tables are available at the Lakeshore Analytics blog.

Related posts:

1. Fewer sales in all categories in '09
2. Aligning sellers with reality
3. Condo prices fell in 59 neighborhoods, including all of the 10 most popular
4. Should agents pre-qualify short-sale sellers?
5. Front Street Lofts in Lemont cuts prices in half on remaining homes