The real estate market has been slowing down since the fall of 2005. It seems to me that it’s way more than a slowdown. Business writer Scott Burns, whose column I enjoy, writes that many sellers are becoming "condo slaves," meaning they are stuck with real estate worth less than they paid for it initially.
In Palatine, the market for high end homes is almost nonexistent. There are 62 houses on the market between $600k and $800k and most of them are newly built houses put up after tearing down an older house. Only 2 of these 62 houses have contracts on them. That’s pretty bad. In the $250k to $450k range it’s a little better. About 17 out of 100 homes currently on the market have sold.
I have many clients that have had homes on the market for more than 6 months and cannot sell. It’s more important that ever to buy with a contingency on the sale of your current home. No one wants to be left with 2 houses for a year or more.
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