Although Alice Scifo moved her real estate office from Deer Park to Lake Villa because the housing market was better there, she said, she thought Barrington area residents needed to know just what was going on with home prices and sales.
So the Realtor of more than 20 years compiled a market report based on information she collected from Multiple Listing Service through September and published it in the most recent newsletter of the Barrington Enlightened Taxpayers Association, a volunteer tax watchdog organization.
“It was just a matter of putting things out there for one to understand what’s going on in the market,” Scifo said.
The report also was spurred by calls to BETA, said Carol Schubert, association president and an accountant. Most are upset by assessments that are out of sync with dropping home prices brought on by sellers who’ve lost jobs, taken pay cuts or suffered otherwise in the sputtering economy, she said.
Property taxes don’t go down at the same pace as prices, she said, because assessments are only done every three years. Residents have to fight their assessments, something she has just done, she said. About four years ago, her house was valued around $945,000 and now she figures it’s just over $700,000. Property taxes are about $14,000.
“We had a lot of people complaining about the assessed real estate values of their homes dropping,” said Schubert. “There are a lot of angry people out there.
“The assessor is killing us. They don’t want to realize house prices are down,” she said. “People, I think, are so depressed everywhere. All they do is see their taxes rise as their assessments are down. A lot of people in Barrington are on pensions. There are a lot of seniors living here.”
Scifo said the numbers, some of which improved this year over last year, didn’t surprise her and have not changed in the almost three months since they were compiled. She points a finger at government and lenders for not offering more help.
“If housing is moving, the economy is moving. If housing is stagnant, than everything else suffers. You have elderly people eating dog food because they’re worried about not being able to pay their taxes,” Scifo said.
Her report summarized the Barrington area and also broke down sales by community. In the area through September, 352 homes sold at an average sale price of $376,252, 88 percent of the listing price. The houses were on the market an average of 175 days.
Last year in the same period, homes were on the market longer, an average of 241 days; fewer sold, 292 homes; and the average sale price was $436,649 or 85 percent of the listing price.
Here are the breakdowns by community:
North Barrington: 25 homes sold after being listed for about 272 days. The average list price was $606, 712 with the average sale price $549,300.
Last year, 27 homes sold after being up for sale for 314 days. The average list price was $742,411, but sold for $620,691.
South Barrington: 40 homes sold through September this year after being on the market for 248 days. The average list price was just over $1.1 million, but sold for $948,370.
Last year, 29 homes sold, were on the market for 259 days, were listed for $1.2 million, and sold for $993,457.
Barrington Hills: 26 homes sold after being listed for 289 days. The list price was $1.4 million, but sold for $1.1 million.
Last year, 21 homes sold after being listed for an average of 253 days. The selling price was just over $1 million, a drop from the asking price of $1.4 million.
Deer Park: 21 homes sold and were on the market 258 days. The average sales price was $435,455, while the list price was $503,127.
Last year, 17 homes sold after being listed for 341 days. The average sale was $465,971, while the list price was about $552,864.
Scifo doubts some industry experts who see the market stabilizing.
“I still see housing going down. We’re going to be in a bad market for the next three years. I would love for somebody to prove me wrong, but I don’t see that.”
carusin@tribune.com