In fact, a general shortage of inventory means that properly staged, appropriately priced, median-value homes are selling lickety-split, said Don Prigge, a managing broker with Baird Warner in Crystal Lake.
Should you possess a luxury home, however, be prepared for a longer wait, although that market, too – even with its relative few qualified buyers – appears to be trending toward faster turnaround.
Sales of homes priced at $1 million plus are up in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago market, even as the median sales price held steady, according to a recent RE/MAX report.
Sales of such homes in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties numbered 2,038 in 2013, with Chicago seeing a total luxury sales increase of 26 percent.
While homes at or above $1 million typically are considered “luxury” market homes among real estate brokers, more bang for the luxury buck can be had in McHenry County. Searching homes priced at $750,000 or more, Midwest Real Estate Data showed that 12 McHenry County homes had sold in 2013 at prices ranging from $755,000 to $1.36 million. Their average days on the market was 152.
In 2012, seven houses priced at more than $750,000 sold, ranging from $770,000 to a Barrington Hills residence that sold for $7.5 million. Their average days on the market was far higher, at 537.
The glut of all home inventory brought on by a plethora of foreclosures in the mid to late 2000s is indeed history, according to area real estate experts and data.
That’s good news for most homeowners looking to sell. The bad news is values are not rising locally on a par with many other rebounding areas that have been making the news, such as San Francisco, San Diego, Naples, Fla., Las Vegas and many areas of Arizona.
“We are experiencing more in the flat to less than 5 percent appreciation year over year,” Prigge said. “But if we get a listing in the Crystal Lake or McHenry County area that is priced according to the market for today, not in the luxury range but in the more normal range, say $250,000 to $300,000, we’re seeing a tremendous amount of activity. … I’d be surprised if it took more than 30 days. And in many cases, we’re seeing multiple offers, which we hadn’t seen in years.”
But imagine you wish to sell a 20,000-square-foot home on nearly 20 wooded, rolling acres. It’s an estate with four kitchens, two elevators, two servants’ suites, a launderette, nine full and three half bathrooms, seven bedrooms, a home theater, in-home spa and a resort-like outdoor pool with a cabana and rock waterfall. It also has an art gallery, banquet room, bar and library. This home, listed at $5.95 million (down from $6.75 million), is nestled among the trees off Dunham Road near Menge Road in Hartland Township.