Even with the economy slowly starting to see improvement, the housing market around DeKalb still struggles.

Diane Hammon, president-elect for the DeKalb Area Association of Realtors, said that there have been improvements but many homeowners are facing foreclosure or have their houses short-sell.

Short-sell happens when the homeowner cannot make their payments and must sell their house to someone for less than what is left on their mortgage, Hammon said.

“When this happens [the homeowner] must go to the lender and the lender must approve of the sale,” Hammon said.

Jeremy Groves, assistant professor of economics at NIU, said judging the strength of the housing market depends on a couple of factors.

“The primary way of measuring this would be to look at housing prices,” Groves said. “With housing, prices are even more important because it is the largest asset owned by most Americans and there are a lot of people who paid more for this asset than it is currently worth.
Increases in housing prices will help to make consumers feel ‘better’ about their wealth and ability to consume because the value of their largest asset is increasing.”

Another important measure, Groves said, is to look at the foreclosure rate around the area.

He said it is related to prices because when foreclosures rise, the supply of housing increases, which decreases demand and lowers prices. Both Hammon and Groves said now would be a good time to buy because prices and interest rates are both low.

Hammon said now is especially good for first-time home buyers because a government tax credit is still in effect.

“Those who have not owned a home for the last 36 months are considered first-time home buyers,” Hammon said. “Those who qualify are eligible to receive up to $8,000 in government refunds, which along with low prices and low interest rates, equals an excellent time to buy for first timers.”

According to www.realtytrac.com, there are currently 253 homes in foreclosure in the 60115 area code, and one out of every 538 homes received a foreclosure notice in August.

Hammon said the tax credit is only available through the end of November and there have been talks in Congress about extending it, but nothing has been decided.

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