Chicago condo and town home developers lost more contracts than they took on in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Image by Jean-Baptiste Rabouan/Hemis/Corbis
This marks the fifth consecutive annual decline and the third straight year with under 600 sales since the market’s crash back in 2008, according to ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com. There had never been less than 3,200 sales in the ten years prior to the crash.
“Everybody who sold well (last year) re-priced their units. People who held firm on pricing saw very little sales absorption,” Gail Lissner vice president of the Appraisal Research Center, tells the publication. “I would think we would start seeing some movement on price for the unsold inventory, which will generate more sales.”
Belgravia Group Ltd., with its heavily-marketed 565 Quincy and Union Row projects, accounted for more than one-third of downtown condo sales last year with over 180 sales.
“I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry,” Belgravia President and CEO Alan Lev tells ChicagoRealEstateDaily.