November 26, 2011 – In our last post we told you about the latest Appraisal Research Counselors report that stated there were 229 Chicago condos that closed during the third quarter of this year. That’s more closings than the 196 that took place in the second quarter of this year, but is still down from the 251 closings in the third quarter of last year (2010). The report, which was the focus of a Crain’s article, also pointed out that 614 downtown condos and townhomes closed during the first nine months of 2011, which is lower than the 1,431 units that closed during the same period last year (2010).

The article also goes on to say that there were 51 Chicago condos and townhomes that went under contract from January through September of this year. Buyers inked 302 sales contracts during those same nine months last year. Not all of those contracts closed though, and there will most likely be buyers who can’t or won’t close on the new contracts as well.

ARC also states that Chicago area condo inventories are slowly falling, attributing much of that decrease to developers who switched several condo projects to rental. About 2,198 condos and townhomes were still unsold in the third quarter of 2011. That is close to the number of unsold units that stood on the market in 1998. And with just Lincoln Park 2520 and the Ritz-Carlton Residences being the only major developments set to deliver next year (2012), there won’t be a big dump of new Chicago condos on the market any time soon.

Technorati Tags: Lincoln Park 2520, New Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate

November 18, 2011 – According to the latest numbers crunched by Appraisal Research Counselors, third quarter sales of Downtown Chicago condos were up from the second quarter of this year but still down significantly from the same period last year.

Crain’s highlighted the ARC report and just 229 condos closed in the third quarter of this year. That’s an improvement from the 196 that closed in the second quarter of 2011, but lower than the 251 that closed in the third quarter of 2010.

The report theorizes that buyers are still waiting to see if condo prices keep dropping. A majority of potential buyers are renting until the market recovers. The only thing pulling in buyers is major price cuts, and some Chicago real estate developers are doing better than others.

Parkside of Old Town has the most closings, according to the report. There have been 26 units close in the third quarter. That number was reached after the developer slashed prices by 30% to 40% and qualifying buyers cashed in on a $10,000 Find Your Place in Chicago city grant. The one bedroom condos had been priced from $259,000 and were lowered to $155,040. Two bedroom condos that were $379,900 dropped to $229,500. Free parking was also included.

Other developments that made third quarter sales include Silver Tower, 200 North Dearborn, 757 Orleans, 565 Quincy and 235 West Van Buren. Some more expensive towers also netted sales. Those were The Legacy, Aqua and Trump Tower.

Next week we’ll tell you how many total closings took place so far this year and take a look at the number of unsold Chicago condos still on the market.

Technorati Tags: Silver Tower, Downtown Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate