Will home sales on an upswing?

For the first time in a year, Will County home sales increased when compared to the same month a year ago.

September home sales totaled 614 in Will County, up 4.6 percent from 587 a year ago. This is the first time Will County home sales increased in a year-over-year comparison since they went up 4.9 percent in September 2008 compared to September 2007, according to Mary Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Association of Realtors.

In Kendall County, September sales were 130, up 26.2 percent from 103 sales last September.

Home sales declined 12.5 percent in Grundy County, however, dipping from 369 a year ago to 322. Statewide, home sales increased 3.3 percent, from 10,018 a year ago to 10,350, the first increase in year-over-year sales in three years. Illinois Association of Realtors officials attribute the increases to first-time home buyers taking advantage of an $8,000 federal tax credit.

"Home sale gains this month show the tax credit is working and should be extended through 2010 as it is helping to stabilize home prices and creating thousands of jobs that rely on housing," said Mike Onorato, a Coal City real estate agent who is president of the association.

Not renewing the tax credit would jeopardize the housing recovery, Onorato said in a press release issued by the association.

Lower prices also are luring new buyers, the association said. Median home prices were down when compared to last year in Will, Kendall and Grundy counties. The Will County median home value fell 8.8 percent, from $202,900 to $184,950; the Kendall County value fell 21.8 percent, from $226,290 to $177,000; and the Grundy County value fell 9.7 percent, from $185,000 to $167,000.

Statewide, the median home price in September was $160,000, down 9.3 percent from $176,450 a year earlier.

While sales are encouraging, the large number of foreclosed properties hitting the market will continue to push prices down, said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois.

"... The news on the sales front is encouraging and even the price declines seem to be moderating," he said. "However, the prospects of a jobless recovery from the recession will continue to exert restraint on a more robust recovery of the housing market. Illinois tends to enter recessions later than the U.S. and take longer to recover."

For more information, go to www.illinoisrealtor.org .