Most real estate practitioners consider a typical market to be one in which properties take an average of six months to sell.  At Chicago Real Estate, we keep track of this number by keeping up with the days on the market (DOM) of every property listed and sold.

If the number rises above six months inventory on hand, then the market is swinging into a buyer's market.  If it falls below, it is becoming a seller's market.

A buyer's market is one in which there are too many properties on the market for the number of buyers. Properties take longer to sell and prices fall.

Sometimes buyers believe that for residential properties, winter time is a buyers' market.  Properties offered for sale during slower times of the year are generally aggressively marketed, and may not sell for a significantly lower price than they would if they were marketed in a busier period.

For instance, in the spring, a seasonal adjustment occurs, and more residences come on the market.  Buyer activity picks up as families with children (still the single largest buyer demographic) buy homes so they can move during summer vacation.

A buyer's market can easily exist in the spring, if conditions dictate that there are more properties than buyers, falling prices, and longer DOMs.  Follow this link to search for properties.

Sometimes a buyers' market can be created that lasts for a long time.  The exit of one or more major employers from a community, a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake, or some other catastrophic event can affect home values in an area for years.

As properties become more competitive, buyers realize that their interest is at a premium and they will increase their demands to sellers.  Certain high-tech services that normally would not be included in the purchase price of the property, now become a bargaining chip for the buyer; broadband Internet or no broadband Internet.

The buyer may ask the seller to provide a property warranty at the seller's expense, or for the seller to pay more of the closing costs than usual out of the settlement proceeds, or any number of other contingencies.

The one certainty that can always be counted upon is that one side of the market will never stay on top forever.  In fact, it can turn on a dime.  The same area that remains depressed for a period of time can make a comeback as lower prices stimulate reinvestment.  Contact us at (312) 622-0900 for more information about market conditions.