While the price of homes sold in Batavia and St. Charles went up for the month of October, Geneva's median sale price dropped almost 24 percent from a year ago.
Home prices for Geneva took a dive year over year for the month of October, a sobering statistic especially when you consider the median prices went up in Batavia and St. Charles during the same time period.
Overall, the market for detached, single-family homes in the Tri-Cities area saw growth in October, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe). MORe gets its statistics from Midwest Real Estate Data.
St. Charles experienced the most dramatic percent change in the number of homes sold, with an uptick of 38.5 percent in October 2012 over October 2011. The number of actual homes sold this October was 54, compared to the 39 sold during the same period last year.
Across the Chicago suburbs, sales of single-family detached homes rose 44.6 percent in October over the same month in 2011, according to MORe.
MORe predicts November will be another month of local housing market growth, as the number of detached homes under contract in October 2012 was 65.8 percent higher than in October 2011.
“2012 has already been a strong year for the housing market, and we are seeing activity continue to increase,” said Tonya Corder, president of MORe and managing broker of Keller Williams Preferred Realty in Orland Park. “Affordable home prices and historically low interest rates have created a rare opportunity for buyers. We are actually back to the point where we are seeing multiple offers on properties.”
| # of homes sold | Median price | |||||
| Town | 2012 | 2011 | % change | 2012 | 2011 | % change |
| Batavia | 24 | 19 | 26.3% |
264,015 |
209,000 |
26.3% |
| Geneva | 25 | 22 | 13.6% |
245,000 |
321,500 |
-23.8% |
| St. Charles | 54 | 39 | 38.5% |
334,500 |
310,000 |
7.9% |
Source: Mainstreet Organization of Realtors
Mike
10:24 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
Could the drop in Geneva home prices be due to the Geneva school dist debt or our high property taxes?
Bob Johnson
12:01 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
No.
Martina Natoma
9:32 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
Bob, I agree, not enough data to draw ant conclusions, but I will report a friend who owns multiple rentals in St. Charles and Geneva states that his Geneva property tax bill has risen much faster than his St. Charles bill.
Jon Azavedo
12:31 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Yes. Add in all the empty storefronts downtown, loss of Randall Road biz to Batavia and the fact that Geneva carried a cache to all the wannabe 30-year olds who moved here 10-12 years ago, piled on second mortgages and are now bailing with short sales. Drive down Fargo and prove me wrong.
Fozzie Dabear
11:23 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
More likely we are jumping to conclusions based on insufficient evidence. This is a poll of only 22, 25 sales. Average prices from that small a sample can fluctuate a lot.
Jason
8:00 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
I agree, not enough data to draw solid conclusions, however, for Bob Johnson to dismiss Mike's suggestion is also wrong. Assuming home prices are still governed by supply and demand, I don't think there is any doubt that some folks take into account Geneva's high tax rate when making a purchase decision. It's perfectly within reason to think an astute home-buyer may have reviewed our rate of increase combined with an unreasonable GEA demanding more money and said "Batavia and St. Charles are a better deal."
luvs2jump
8:26 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
I wonder if it was the hard work of 1 motivated agent or agency based in St. Charles?
marsha engle
11:03 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
My guess is that is foreclosures and short sales that are closing. It could also be just homes that are lower priced sold during that time period vs a year ago a higher priced set of homes. I don't think it means all that much.