Home sales in Edgebrook and maybe to a lesser extent in Sauganash started out strongly in the first quarter of 2008. From there, home values in 60646 began dipping, and were soon followed by declining sales. This trend was continued in the fourth quarter of 2008, and I won’t even make an attempt to put a spin on the figures – not that I ever do – because the numbers are what the numbers are. I’m just the messenger. In this edition of my quarterly market conditions report for Edgebrook and Sauganash, I have included the comparative year-end figures as well, going back to 2005.

A quick remark about the methodology of this column, going forward. 2008 was the last year, in which I included sales figures for the neighborhoods of South Edgebrook, Indian Woods, and North Gladstone Park in the Edgebrook figures. Starting with the Q1 2009 report which will be published some time in the beginning of April this year, I’ll offer a separate review for these neighborhoods. The Edgebrook report will then encompass only sales activity in the neighborhoods of Old Edgebrook, Wildwood, North Edgebrook, Edgebrook Towers, and Middle Edgebrook. A number of folks have asked me to make this change, because the general consensus seems to be that the housing stock south of Old Edgebrook is just not comparable to the one in Edgebrook, in terms of price range, as well as types of properties (many more apartment buildings in Gladstone Park, relatively few in Edgebrook). I agree with this argument. In fact, you may have noticed that the navigation menu at the top of 60646 Blog now lists homes for sale in the South Edgebrook and Gladstone Park neighborhoods separately. Similarly, in our weekly open house page, homes that are held open in South Edgebrook and Gladstone Park, are listed under a separate header. So, let’s dive into the quarterly and annual sales figures.

Edgebrook ↓↑

The two graphs below are pretty self explanatory: 14 homes sold in Q4 of 2008 and 78 for the entire year of 2008, for a decline of 44% quarter-over-quarter, and -23% year-over-year. So far, so good. The average home value was the next victim. In Q4 2008 it suffered a loss of about 4.5% vs. Q4 2007. Actually reasonable, considering that the Case-Schiller home value index (pdf-file) for Chicago is down by about 11%. Vs. 2007, average home values in Edgebrook declined by a little over 5% in 2008. Average market times (days on market) fell by 27 days (yay!) in Q4 2008 vs. Q4 2007, but on average, in Edgebrook a house was on the market for 151 days in 2008 (vs. 131 days in 2007), before it closed. Successful Edgebrook home sellers on average were asking a tad below $502,000 for their homes in 2008 which basically matched the asking price level in 2005. The difference was that in 2005 they weren’t willing to sell for more than 3.3% on average below their asking price. In 2008, however, they were negotiable to the tune of 6.2% on average. These are the realities of the current market. As of January 19, 2008 there have been 75 single family homes actively for sale in Edgebrook which translates into a 16-month supply of inventory.

Sauganash ↓↑

Yes, fourth quarter 2008 sales figures in Sauganash declined year-over-year, as well as annually, but in the context of the last four years the picture was far from a catastrophe. 11 homes closed in Q4 2008, and 56 during the entire year 2008. While average home values held pretty much steady in Q4 2008 vs. Q4 2007 at $467,318, for the year they declined by 4.4% vs. 2007 to $514,357. This still beats the Case-Schiller Index for Chicago which stood at about -11% year-over-year in October 2008. The troubling issue in Sauganash is still the fairly high average market time of homes: 191 days for Q4 2008, as well as for the entire year. In contrast, in 2005, a home in Sauganash sold in 57 days, on average. The “negotiability” of successful Sauganash home sellers mirrored that of the ones in Edgebrook, in 2008. Home sellers were willing to part with their residences for an average of 6.3% below asking price. Again, a big decline from 2005 when the average sale price to list price ratio stood at 97.3% in Sauganash. Active inventory for sale in Sauganash amounts to 51 homes as of January 19, 2008 which translates into a supply of 13.9 months. It is also worth mentioning that there were 8 closed townhomes in Sauganash in 2008; 6 of them in Sauganash Village. The average asking price for all townhouses was $373,775 the average sale price was $349,718, and the median sale price was $355,375.

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