Mona Lindvall, Eva Marcial and Realtor Christi Steines pose for a photo on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, inside a home Marcial bought from Lindvall in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Latest real estate data shows
an inventory crunch continues,
but price increases are tapering off
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Eva Marcial had given up on the local real estate market when a chance encounter at an ATM led to her landing a home she and her son had admired for years.
It was early November, and Mona Lindvall was at the same ATM at Chase Bank on Mulford Road picking up some cash to tip the movers who were helping her relocate to a bigger home in the city. The two had known each other for a handful of years, and as soon as Marcial learned Lindvall was moving she asked, “Well, where did you move from?” Lindvall said.
As it turns out, Lindvall lived in a home across from the Sinnissippi Golf Course that Marcial and her son, Hayden, 14, drove and walked their dog past for years. He would refer to it as “a castle.”
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Marcial had been beaten down by a fast-paced real estate market that saw homes selling at record pace, often for thousands over the asking price as buyers fought to outbid each other over the record-low inventory of homes for sale.
“I gave up,” Marcial said. “I honestly was almost to the point where I was about to buy in Chicago because I had given up and there was more real estate in the city than there was here.”
But the chance meeting with Lindvall offered a glimmer of hope. Lindvall and her husband, Scott, hadn’t put their home on the market yet. Marcial visited it the next day, and two days later she put in an offer before the listing ever went live.
After enduring a real estate market that had been brutal for buyers, Marcial finally found her dream home.
“There is hope at an ATM,” Marcial said.
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The latest real estate data in the region shows that the inventory crunch continues, with the number of homes for sale in January down 12% compared to a year ago. But while it remains a seller’s market, buyers are starting to get a bit more breathing room.
Starting in the fall, buyers like Marcial who had struggled to make a purchase because of the fast pace of sales and bidding wars have now had better luck landing homes, said Christi Steines, a Realtor with Dickerson & Nieman who represented Marcial.
“While things have calmed a little bit, we are still seeing multiple offers when something is priced right and it comes on the market because of the extremely low inventory,” Steines said. “We really need that inventory to come up.”
The NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors released the first real estate stats of 2023 today, showing that home sale prices averaged $173,345 in January. That’s 4% higher than the same month a year ago, but sales price growth has slowed compared to the average of more than 5% throughout 2022.
Homes are also staying on the market longer despite the number of homes for sale remaining near historic lows. Homes sat on the market an average of 34 days in January, up from 28 in the same month in 2022 and more than triple the record low of 10 days set in July.
“In January, the market underwent a major shift as higher mortgage rates and lower inventory reduced buyer demand, substantially reducing the pace of home sales and moderated home prices,” said Conor Brown, CEO of NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors.
There were 196 home sales in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties in January, down from 329 a year ago. That marks the lowest monthly total for homes sold in January since 2011, when 160 homes were sold, according to the Realtors group.
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There were 293 homes on the market in January, down from 334 a year ago.
“Sellers currently have less competition with inventory still being at a low level,” Brown said. “And now that interest rates and prices have both leveled off, buyers can take advantage of a less-frenzied market, compared to the last two years.”
For Marcial, who works as a director for a manufacturing company based in North Carolina, landing her home was a combination of the market cooling off slightly and a bit of serendipity.
Lindvall, an artist and owner of mLindvall Inspired Design, decided to reach a deal to sell the home to Marcial without subjecting her to the potential to be outbid by other buyers. She said it was more important to know a friend would be moving into a place she cherished.
Lindvall only decided to move because her two children and their spouses are both expecting, and she and her husband wanted more room for their grandchildren when they make weekend-long visits.
“We genuinely loved this home,” Lindvall said.
Marcial is paying homage to her friend and how she bought the home, too. They’re no longer calling it “a castle,” as her son did in the days before they moved in.
Its new name, Marcial said, is La Casa Mona.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas