Champaign County Home Sales Up 21-Percent

Eleven straight months of steady growth in Champaign County home sales mean healthy prospects for 2013, according to the county’s Association of Realtors.

President Todd Salen says a 21-percent increase in sales of existing homes last year over 2011 show the market is recovering. 

Meanwhile, the median home price continues to go up, it’s now at $140-thousand, up nearly 3-percent from a year ago. 

Salen says many current owners don’t want to buy again until their current home recovers to the price where it was when they bought it.

“The problem with that is, the house that they’re going to buy, probably is going to go up the same percentage as the house they’re in now," he said.  "And if they’re trading up, that’s a significant amount of money they they’re going to leave on the table by waiting to recover that.  I think you just have to say, ‘look, I’m going to live with where my house is right now, I’m going to trade out, and I’m going to get a better value on the house that I’m going to buy.”

But Salen also says for those who are renting, mortgage interest rates are still at record lows.  The average fixed rate for the North Central region last month was 3.32 percent, down from nearly 4-percent in December 2011.

The West Region which includes Mahomet saw sales go up 14-percent in December, and 27-percent for all of 2012.

Champaign and Savoy home sales went up 32-percent in December, and 30-percent for the year.  Urbana sales went up 12-percent for 2012.