Yo '07: Are we headed for 10 percent price drops?

The price of homes in many parts of downtown Chicago, outerlying neighborhoods and the suburbs could flatten out or even drop as much as 10 percent in 2007 as supply exceeds demand, according to real estate auctioneer Rick Levin of Rick Levin & Associates.

“We are going to have to take some time to weed out those excess properties,” Levin tells Yo. Levin says 2007, “will be a year that prices remain flat. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 10 percent price drop in many Chicagoland areas, but there will always be pockets that do ok.”

The most vulnerable price point, according to Levin? The $900,000 – $2 million bracket. Interest rates don’t look bad at the moment, but adjustable rate mortgage packages are less attractive than they were a year ago and those who make between $100,000 and $250,000 are having a hard time stretching their dollars, Levin says. Those folks, who often have about $300,000 in cash to invest, are starting to think that the rebounding stock market is a more attractive option than real estate, he says.

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