State of the Chicagoland burbs (Aurora, Elmhurst: real estate, foreclosure, how much)

[westburbsil]

There are a lot of very informative posters on here and since this board is all about moving and homes, would love to hear opinions on the current state of housing in the Chicagoland area and what the future will hold.

I live in St. Charles, which like most burbs, has been greatly affected by the real estate bubble bursting. I would say we are somewhere in the middle. Many developments west of randall road have turned into ghost towns.
Now the postive is the 1st street project has really turned out great with many new restaraunts and stores.

But back to homes, are there areas of the burbs hit harder during this recession than other areas?

Are there burbs that are starting to rebound and what positive news, if any, do people see for the chi-burbs in the next 5 years?

[MannheimMadman]

My parents live in Carpentersville, and they (and neighbors) have taken a bath with their home values. Sadly, the trending demographics show that things will probably not end well for them at all. It's the same thing with my buddy in Aurora.

[pinipig523]

Huntley took a dip as well.

[Vlajos]

Those far flung suburbs will likely struggle for a while.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Those far flung suburbs will likely struggle for a while.

I absolutely agree. Both my mom and her husband work in a nearby industrial office park, so it's not like they don't have work nearby. But yes, Huntley and Carpentersville really had no business being built up like it did, and had the bubble not inflated, would not exist in their current form.

[pvande55]

I think all suburbs suffered from the nationwide housing slump. Perhaps the newer far flung suburbs worse because they are not close to employment or anything else, and residents not living there long enough to put down roots.

[sgresident]

In sugar grove,we too, have taken the housing hit. We have had numerous housing developments grind to a halt and home values are down substantially. However, on a better note, we have a very low foreclosure rate. With this in mind, the hopes are that those home will be picked up and get back online, thus making other homes start to move again. We have had more commercial development with some office/retail space being built out and filled. Just wishing for larger retail development.

[westburbsil]

Does anyone think values have bottomed or are close to bottoming? I have lived all over the Chicago area. My good friends in Elmhurst told me that Dupage is getting rocked pretty hard as well.
I have never seen home values, as a whole region, drop so much so fast. Having to work in the northeast, home values are acutally much lower here and prices have somewhat stabilized out there. Don't know why the Chicago area is really getting hit hard. At least we are not Arizona, Nevada, or Florida. Wowzers!

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by westburbsil

Does anyone think values have bottomed or are close to bottoming? I have lived all over the Chicago area. My good friends in Elmhurst told me that Dupage is getting rocked pretty hard as well.
I have never seen home values, as a whole region, drop so much so fast. Having to work in the northeast, home values are acutally much lower here and prices have somewhat stabilized out there. Don't know why the Chicago area is really getting hit hard. At least we are not Arizona, Nevada, or Florida. Wowzers!

I recall an article in the NYT that stated white collar employment has bounced back pretty good on the east coast. That would, in turn, start to stabilize housing.

However, we're still hurting for employment and cash in this state. Until you have supply and demand worked out again, the vicious cycle continues.

And that's also why places like Phoenix and Las Vegas will continue to hurt. No jobs, no money to buy property, and falling prices until people DO buy the property.

[westburbsil]

Excellent point Manneheim. Real estate is all location, location and Chicagoland(IMO) has some of the best values for what one gets. Yes our weather is a bummer from Dec-March, but the Northeast isn't that much better. Go to suburbs of Boston, New York, etc. and the housing prices are much higher than here. Go to the West Coast and they are much much higher, even after the crash.

For the midwest, Chicago is a tad higher, but not on the extreme's of the coasts. Same with the city, but this is a burb forum, so thought I would focus on the burbs.

What do some on here see in the next 5 years? I hope(really hope) that this year is the bottom. I mean how much lower can prices go? We have such beautiful places to live and there are countless burbs with excellent quality of life. I would like to see real estate prices start to show that.