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Springfield cited as housing market that's doing OK

Posted January 23, 2008 10:00 pm

Tim Landis

Springfield grabbed its 15 minutes of fame Thursday in the national discussion over housing, the economy and recession.

The chief economist for the National Association of Realtors spent a good part of his day explaining why not all U.S. housing markets are in the tank.

The examples? San Antonio, Texas; Syracuse, N.Y.; Sarasota, Fla. - and Springfield.

"The national weather forecast doesn't mean too much to many people. It's the same way with real estate. There's just so much variation," the economist, Lawrence Yun, said.

He was speaking after release of figures that showed, nationally, home sales were down nearly 13 percent last year. That made 2007 the worst year since a 17.7 percent decline in 1982.

Statewide in Illinois, the news was even worse. Sales of single-family homes and condos were down nearly 17 percent.

By comparison, sales in the Springfield area fell 4.1 percent for the year - but were up 8.2 percent in December compared to December 2006.

Yun said markets such as Springfield, Syracuse and Sarasota are not subject to the kind of dramatic swings in sales and prices that have clobbered larger metro areas. San Antonio, and Texas in general, he added, are just popular places to live right now.

"Springfield is one of those markets where you did not experience the price booms that occurred in many parts of the country, and it's remained very affordable," said Yun.

Not that all is rosy in local real estate. Phil Chiles, president of the Capital Area Association of Realtors, said central Illinois does have a surplus of homes that has yet to work its way through the market. The approximately 1,600 homes on the market at the end of December were down from more than 1,700 a year earlier, but the figure is still 23 percent above four years ago.

"I'd like to see those numbers come down, but if we continue the kind of activity that we saw in November, December and so far in January, 2008 is going to be a good year," said Chiles.

Thursday's plug from the national association also was welcomed.

"I guess we stood out, and they decided to highlight us," said Chiles.

A housing surplus is in the eye of the beholder. Eric Gleason and Heather Redenbo, who are engaged to be married in November, said they found plenty of homes to choose from in their $100,000 to $130,000 price range before they settled on a $129,000, two-bedroom ranch in the Sherwood subdivision.

"There were a lot of homes, but for a lot of them, the quality was not anywhere near this home," said Gleason, a recruiter for the Midwest Technical Institute training school in Springfield.

Redenbo, who is in a management training program with Bank of Springfield, said they were intent on staying within a budget.

"We really wanted to feel comfortable that we could also save some money," she said.

For Bob and Nancy Pavich, however, the housing crunch hit shortly after the couple bought a home on South Glenwood Avenue on the premise they could sell the condominium they already owned in the Piper Glen subdivision. Neither has sold.

"We move every couple of years," said Nancy Pavich. "We have sold houses in half an hour. We've never had problems like this."

The couple, both of whom formerly worked at The State Journal-Register, tried to sell the homes themselves before hiring a real estate agent.

"There's just so much out there. Our Realtor says people are taking their time, and they look at everything," she said. "She said things usually pick up in the third week of January, and we're there, so, we'll see."

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536.

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