  Jul. 11--CHICAGO -- It is, as the King of Siam famously declared, a puzzlement. After lots of early-summer discussions with Chicago-area real estate agents, it's hard to know what to make of the marketplace.
Just about the only consistency we encountered: Nobody says business is bad. Previous reports from the trenches have hummed a familiar theme since the Tribune began this series of occasional stories in March 2003. Real estate agents (that is, those who had the time to return calls) almost inevitably told us: It's busy, busy, busy.
Or even: It's a madhouse out there. Not even the threat of war fazed Chicago-area home buyers, who swam toward sales contracts like salmon fighting their way up the Columbia River, apparently drawn by the siren song of low interest rates. But current readings of the marketplace are a little of everything. Some quarters continue to be in the throes of realty hysteria, with multiple offers a fact of life and some houses selling within hours of being listed. Others say business is calmer, and they're starting to see price reductions, a phenomenon that's been absent for a couple of years.
Agents say that "move-up" properties and homes in the upper brackets are sitting, sitting, sitting -- except for the agents who say they're selling normally, thank you. Agents say buyers are cowed by potential volatility of interest rates; others say they're not concerned at all. In some areas, investors who hope to snag a bargain, fix it up and resell for a profit are regarded as a major factor in driving up prices; in others, the speculators have practically disappeared, agents say.
Some areas have almost too many houses on the market; there's a dearth in others. Buyers want fixer-uppers, they say; buyers don't want fixer-uppers, they also say. Here are a few snapshots of local markets, as seen by real estate agents: CHICAGO NORTHWEST SIDE Sally M. Haynes, ERA ReaLife "If it's priced from $230,000 to $260,000 -- really, all the way up to $300,000 -- it's swept up literally overnight in Edison Park, Portage Park and Norwood Park.
Our average sale price is quickly creeping up to about $325,000, and last year the average was $262,000. "But what's being bought and what's being asked are two different things. Some sellers are convinced that they can get a lot more than what their neighbors sold for a few years ago, and that's not always the case. For one thing, what people are looking for has changed. Nine years ago, when I started in the business, it was large living rooms, then it went to big kitchens and lots of closets. Now it's more than one bathroom, a first-floor family room, and an outdoor entertaining space, a deck or patio.
"What's driving the prices is that we have a captive audience of city workers who can't leave Chicago. I've been working with a police officer and his wife for four months, and they're looking in the $250,000 range. We've written offers on five houses. The least competition we've had is six offers on one house. Another house had more than 50 bids. "The higher end here is becoming the $450,000 to $500,000 range, and that's influenced by city workers, too, who are buying those houses and adding second stories.
But I'm starting to see prices level off there, probably because of interest rates, and we're starting to see price reductions there for the first time in a couple of years. " NORTH SIDE Ashley Carter, Realty Executives City "It's been a generally strong market. Market times are reasonable now, but it's hard to put a number on it. I'd say houses sell within reasonable time frames, 75 days or less, but you have to price it right. "I hear anecdotally about rates going up and their effect on the market, but I haven't seen them really affecting anybody's ability to buy lately.
They did affect things a few months ago, when they were starting to rise. It was directly affecting how much people could borrow. "There's interest in two-flats, from people who have purchased before and are looking to make an investment over the longer term. There's a good number of those properties for sale out there because the rental market has been down, in general, and the owners are ready to sell.
"First-time buyers aren't seriously looking at properties that need work. Their attitude seems to be, let's move in, we can have our cookout the same weekend because there's nothing else we need to do. "You do hear about multiple offers, but not on the homes that have been on the market for three days. I'm seeing multiple offers on homes that have been on the market for 45 days. It's the luck of the draw.
" Source: Chicago Tribune Publication date: 2004-07-11 
