Chicago real estate, living and neighborhood perspective

Not Quite Over

With the expiration of the tax credit, many people are anxiously waiting to see what the first week’s numbers were, and what this means for the market.  Considering that the spring season is usually strong, the full effects of the credit may not be realized until next year.

What does this mean for current home buyers?  I was recently interviewed by Andrea Brambila from Inman News about my thoughts on this.  Many developers and home sellers aggressively lowered prices to attract potential buyers during the credit, and those who were not able to sell are unlikely to raise prices now that the credit is over.

I am currently working with several buyers, some of which are first time home buyers, whose main priority was finding the right home first, and not being rushed by the expiration of the credit.  There are still buyers actively looking so sellers shouldn’t be giving up hope.

I also had a lot of renters / first time home buyers who were interested in purchasing but had to delay their purchase due to either saving for a down payment, or to repair credit standing.  This means that there are potentially many more buyers out there in the coming months as well.

Don’t forget that homeowners who walked away last year, have had about one year to work on their credit.  Many of whom have eagerly worked on their credit to regain their homeowner status.

The credit itself probably had the smallest impact at upper-middle to luxury homes.  These were people buying their 3rd, 4th, 5th, home, and were planning to stay for a long time.  Finding exactly the right home was exceedingly more important that what the credit offered.

Just because the credit has expired doesn’t mean that the market is over for buyers and sellers.  Perhaps the credit was the spark needed to get people excited about real estate again.  With spring and summer here, activity and interest levels should stay strong.

Sherwin is a REALTOR® in the Chicago & Suburban area with @properties. Questions can be forwarded to Sherwin Sucaldito

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”Not Quite Over” by Sherwin Sucaldito is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at Realty Evolved

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