Real Estate News
Local Housing Market
Record Rockford-Area Home Sale Prices Have Some Buyers Struggling To Find An Affordable Place
August 30, 2022- Kent Holliston spent three years saving for a down payment on his family’s future home.
But by the time he stepped back into the market he had been priced out of the Roscoe area where he preferred to live with his wife and 9-year-old daughter.
Holliston’s story is illustrative of what many buyers are facing here as home sale prices hit a new record high for the second straight month. The average sale price of a home sold in the region last month is up nearly 11% from the same time a year ago, meaning buyers would have to cough up an additional $19,000.
“We’d like to be in a certain area, but the way the prices are there’s no way,” Holliston told the Rock River Current on Friday at a showing for a home in south Rockford. “Eighteen months ago, 24 months ago, yeah, we could’ve lived in those areas. Today, in this market, we can’t afford it.”
Rockford-Area Housing Market Begins To Cool, But Prices Remain Near Record Highs
November 1, 2023- The region’s housing market showed its first signs of cooling last month after four-straight months of record-breaking prices.
Prices haven’t dipped much from their record highs, with the September average ranking the third highest in history, but the number of homes sold was at its lowest in September in five years.
There was a nearly 16% drop in home sales from September last year to this year, according to NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors data. There were 450 homes sold in September, the sixth straight month of decline.
The drop in sales comes as mortgage rates have risen nearly 4 percentage points in 10 months to their highest level in 20 years.
“The ongoing sales decline reflects the impact of mortgage rates at 6.11% at the end of September and now hovering around 7%,” said Conor Brown, CEO of NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors. “In an inflationary economy, prices rise across the board.”
$1M Loan Investment to Rehabilitate Homes in Rockford
November 29, 2022- The City of Rockford provides the Rockford Local Development Corporation with a 0% loan to rehabilitate houses in local neighborhoods.
After approval from City Council, Rockford will provide a 0% interest loan to the Rockford Local Development Corporation. The goal is to invite more investors to rehabilitate homes in local neighborhoods.
The Loan Pool is managed by the Rockford Community Investment Fund who will provide financing to rehabilitate or flip homes.
Local realtors, Bobby Walsh and Michelle Huber, said this $1 million loan program creates the opportunity for a lot of good to happen in residential areas.
Rockford teacher's recent home purchase reflects a nationwide trend
December 5, 2022 - Tatiana Elliott has achieved her dream of becoming a homeowner.
The 38-year-old math and science teacher at Galapagos Charter School has purchased a two-bedroom and two bath ranch house in northwest Rockford.
Elliott and her seven-year-old daughter, Alani, relocated from an apartment on North Avenue into their new home in July.
“The rising cost of renting just made it more reasonable to start looking into owning a piece of property and letting the money that I was spending on rent go toward something that is going to be mine,” she said.
Elliott’s story reflects a nationwide housing market trend showing Black and Latino homeownership rates are up significantly since 2019.
Data from the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey analyzed by the Urban Institute shows that Latino homeownership rates increased by 2.5% while the rate for the Black community rose by 2% over the two-year period.
Rockford-Area Real Estate Market Saw Record Prices, Fastest Sale Pace In ‘Remarkable’ 2022
January 31, 2023- Homes in the region sold at their highest prices and moved off the market at the fastest-ever pace last year, according to year-end data released Tuesday by the NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors.
The average sale price throughout 2022 was $179,616, a 5% increase from $170,567 in 2021. Homes sold after spending an average of 20.5 days on the market, down from an average of about 23 days the year before.
By comparison, the pace of home sales was more than double in 2020, when it took an average 43.5 days to sell. It took an average 46 days in 2019 and 52.5 in 2018.
“The 2022 Rockford regional housing market was nothing short of remarkable,” said Conor Brown, CEO of NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors. “Inflation rose at a record pace, affecting every facet of the housing market.”
A Chance Encounter At An ATM Helped This Buyer Break Through A Brutal Rockford Real Estate Market
February 28, 2023 - 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.”
Rockford-area home sales off to slow start in 2023
March 1, 2023 - Even though the Rockford housing market is currently experiencing its usual winter slowdown, sales fell an abnormally high 40.4% in January from the previous year.
Rockford isn’t alone, however – sales across the state of Illinois fell 35.3% in January.
Market-wide home sales, including single-family homes and condominiums, in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties, totaled 196 homes, down from 329 sold last January.
This was the lowest monthly total for homes sold in January dating back 13 years to 2011, when 160 homes were sold.
The January number of homes sold was the lowest total for any month also dating back to January 2011.
REALTORS® in the News
Young Professionals Network hosts fundraiser benefiting Family Peace Center
March 11, 2020 - 23 News Anchor Shannon Kelly had the chance to get behind the bar along with Mayor Tom Mcnamara for the Rockford area realtors Young Professionals Network celebrity bartending event. The main attraction was dare-aoke.
Rockford Area REALTORS® donate $10K to help local Family Peace Center
December 6, 2020 - The Young Professionals Network of the Rockford Area REALTORS® (RAR) showed its support this week for a project designed to help local survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking.
Three local REALTOR® associations support their communities
August 14, 2020- Members of the Heartland REALTOR® Organization (HRO) of greater McHenry County, the REALTOR® Association of Northwestern Illinois (RANWIL) and the Rockford Area REALTORS® showed their community spirit in memorable ways during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As inspiration for their actions, the local associations drew from the RPAC Hearts for Healthcare Workers Challenge.
Rockford Area Realtors teams up with local food bank this holiday season
November 19, 2020- A group of Stateline realtors teamed up with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to ensure the community doesn't go hungry.
Rockford Area Realtors usually hosts an annual holiday event where people donate funds and the groups donate the money to a local non-profit. This year, because of the pandemic, it wasn't able to host the event.
Rockford Area Realtors contributes to Rebuilding Rockford campaign
January 21, 2021 - The Rockford Area Realtors presented a $10,000 check to the community-led Rebuilding Rockford Campaign to express support for the extension of a city of Rockford public roads and infrastructure referendum that will appear on the Consolidated Election ballot on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
Rockford Area Realtors supports the community-led campaign with $10,000 to continue its efforts to educate voters on the extension of the 1 percent public roads and infrastructure sales tax.
REALTORS® partner with 23 local governments to pass fair housing resolutions during Fair Housing Month
April 2021 - From Belvidere to Belleville, local governments locked arms with local REALTORS® to pass fair housing resolutions during Fair Housing Month in 2021.
Each year, April is recognized by Congress as Fair Housing Month in the United States to commemorate the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. This year, the Illinois REALTORS® encouraged the passage of fair housing proclamations by local government bodies across the state.
Boone County REALTORS® continue support of local real estate development with grant money
July 8, 2021- Boone County REALTORS®, a chapter of Rockford Area REALTORS®, gave a $2,500 grant to Growth Dimensions Economic Development for Belvidere & Boone County this summer.
The grant money is one of several contributions local REALTORS® have made to help bring commercial and residential development to the area, according to Illinois REALTORS® Local Governmental Affairs Director Neeley Erickson. Boone County members have built strong relationships with Growth Dimensions, and Boone County REALTORS® President Christi Steines is a member of the Growth Dimensions Board of Directors.
Rockford Area Realtors raises money for Miss Carly’s through Epic Water Battle
July 22, 2021- An epic battle took place in Rockford on Thursday...an epic water battle, that is.
It was held by Rockford Area Realtors at Sportscore One. Teams could sign up and compete against each other by trying to throw as many water balloons as possible into buckets in three minutes. The event aimed to raise money for Miss Carly's. The group provides food, shelter and supplies for homeless people in Rockford as well as helps people struggling with poverty and drug addiction.
‘For Everyone To Enjoy’: New Deck Overlooks Levings Lake In Rockford
November 3, 2021 - A new deck overlooking the banks of Levings Lake will give park-goers a place to relax, picnic or watch the action at West Rock Wake Park.
Members of the Rockford Area Association of Realtors put some of the finishing touches on the project Wednesday by planting a pair of trees near the park’s entrance at 1420 Pierpont Ave.
The Realtors provided a $5,000 grant to help cover the cost of building the composite wood deck, which replaces picnic benches that rested in a sandy bank of the lake that had once served as a beach.
REALTORS® show their support for Rockford by securing $12.1K for three park district projects
November 5, 2021- After raising funds to help the Rockford Park District with a portable fitness project for local youths, the Rockford Area REALTORS® (RAR) are using their influence to help the park district develop one park and improve another one.
First, RAR applied for and secured a $1,500 National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Placemaking Level 1 Grant and added $150 of its own funds to support a Youth Fitness Pop-Up Park.
Over the course of nine days, park district volunteers used an empty lot next to Clarence Hicks Memorial Sports Park on the city’s southwest side to test the idea. Using signage to identify the activities and educate participants, volunteers led boys and girls in track and field activities and helped them safely use power fitness ropes, plyometric boxes and other exercise equipment.
Forest Hills baseball diamonds become spray soaker battleground