How’s business in real estate these days?

Posted on April 22, 2020
 Statewide sales in March are up 4.7 percent from March 2019, and the average (median) sale price is up 8.5 percent from the previous March, to 12,182 and $217,000, respectively.(WJBC file photo

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – It’s the biggest purchase of your life – a house. And we are headed for what could be the worst economy of your life.

But Ed Neaves, a Bloomington realtor who is president of the Illinois Association of Realtors, says sales are surprisingly strong.

“Sales are still brisk,” Neaves says. “Now, as we get into April and May, depending on the situation, they may slow down a little bit.”

He’s referring to what he expects to be a kink in supply, as “there are still buyers out there, the interest rates are low, there are some great financing situations, but some of the sellers are starting to have a little bit of reluctance to put their house on the market.”

Neaves says the March figures reflect closed sales; that is, sales for agreements made before the pandemic. Statewide sales in March are up 4.7 percent from March 2019, and the average (median) sale price is up 8.5 percent from the previous March, to 12,182 and $217,000, respectively.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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