Illinois Real Estate

Illinois has seen large growth in the past few years with a population of 12,831,970 as of 2006. The economy of Illinois is based on agricultural products such as corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle and dairy products, and a larger industrial sector of machinery, food processing, electric equipment, chemical products, printing and publishing, transportation equipment, petroleum and coal. With such a large and varied economy, job growth stays steady, always a very good indication that home values are likely to appreciate steadily in a given area.

Illinois can be divided into Chicago and rural areas. Chicago is an vast presence and essentially a state unto itself. The rest of Illinois can be classified as much more rural with the homey atmosphere such places take on. This presents you with a unique living opportunity as you can choose to live in low stress towns and venture into impressive Chicago on weekends. On the other hand, you can live in Chicago and take tranquil weekends outside of the bustling city. In short, Illinois offers something for everyone. Though tourism isn't a major industry in Illinois, they still receive a fairly large amount of visitors daily.

Chicago is definitely one of the pricier places to live in Illinois, but also the one with the most opportunities. At the end of 2006, the median value of homes was about $279,400, a 1.7% increase from a year ago. The housing in the capital city of Springfield stays steady and rarely fluctuates into a strong buyer or seller market. The average home price in the city is about $138,396 which is much cheaper than Chicago. On the western border of Illinois, in Quincey, the median home value is low at $110,730, but the average amount of time a home stays on the market is over 150 days.

All in all, though Illinois home values continue to rise, they have stabilized off from the boom of the past few years. On a month to month basis, they fluctuate somewhat, with minimal increases and decreases, but looked at over a year, Illinois home values has steadily increased. As long as unemployment stays down and job growth up, there's no reason that stable appreciation can't continue.

Illinois has certain laws that apply to their mortgages. For example, prepayment penalties are not allowed on either ARMs or fixed-rate mortgages with interest rates higher than eight percent. Additionally, Illinois passed a High Risk Loan Act in 2003 in an attempt to counteract predatory lending practices. While the High Risk Loan Act does not put limits on interest rates and closing costs, it does prohibit the use of certain loan types. Loans with interest rates that exceed the Treasuries securities rate by more than six percent on a first mortgage or eight percent on a second mortgage and loans in which the total points and fees required to be paid by the borrower at closing exceed eight percent of the total loan amount are subject to certain regulations and limitations.

The standard time required to sell an Illinois home has been increasing steadily for several years. According to data from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, detached homes sold during the first quarter of 2007 were on the market for an average of 131 days. In 2004, it was an average of 61 days throughout the same period.