Chitownproperty

If you own real estate or are in the market for a new home, no doubt you’ve paid attention to — and been slightly frightened by — the recent news that median prices and sales numbers have dropped significantly for the first time in years. But as this Tribune editorial by Kenneth Harney points out, a closer look at what the numbers mean reveals a different picture, particularly in Chicago.

First of all, Harney emphasizes, is that in light of the spectacular gains in real estate prices in the past few years, a 1.2 percent decline in the national median price isn’t all that surprising. Secondly, since that number is a national figure, it doesn’t reveal discrepancies in local markets. For instance, the median price of a home in Chicago actually rose 1.7 percent over the last year. That national figure is brought down by larger decreases in areas that saw the greatest investor speculation.

As a home buyer, the second piece of news, falling sales volume, means that you’ll have more homes to choose from as local inventories increase. And for sellers, it means that you need to think about adjusting your asking price, or be willing to wait a little longer to sell. Either way, it’s not the dreaded crash that the most strident critics predicted, rather a return to what we used to call a normal housing market.