"Mortgage Rates Coming Down!" Headlines and TV ads shout out the good news here in Chicago.
Home prices, due to high levels of inventory for sale and a nearly four out of ten short sale and foreclosure rate in some Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs, have fallen dramatically over the past year. Most areas are more affordable than they have been in the past five years.
But, really, if many potential buyers are worried about their short-term prospects of keeping their job - will the lower rates really help much?
As summarized by James P. Miller in the Chicago Tribune, the IL Unemployment Rate surged to 7.6% last month, up from 7.3% in November. That figure is higher than the U.S. Unemployment rate of 7.2%.
Roughly 36,000 employees were trimmed from IL payrolls in December, mainly in the construction sector, hard hit by the sluggishness in the Real Estate Market in IL and Chicago. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, more than 28,000 construction jobs have been lost in the past four months - an estimated one-tenth of construction jobs across IL.
The manufacturing sector lost 5,200 jobs in December, and the "Business Services" sector, including temporary employees, lost another 4.600 positions.
Miller has more details in his Tribune article.
Also see our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
The first shoe tp drop was the motgage meltdown caused by the exotic and easy loans. The second shoe is the economy as you rightly point out. I am afraid there is yet another shoe when the option mortgages rest in bulk this year left to drop. . I feel like George talking in Iraq didging all these shoes