Just completed our bi-monthly (Strange word. Could mean twice a month or every two months. We use the latter definition.) assessment of the 2 – 3 bedroom condo market in Chicago and some of our key neighborhoods and the data masks what’s really going on. As the graph below shows the fall and winter were brutal with inventory levels reaching about a 2 year supply. Although inventory has now dropped to a bit less than 1 year’s supply (still a lot) this masks the fact that the sales level is half of what it was a year ago. The reason that inventory levels aren’t higher is that there are fewer condos on the market right now than last year and, more significantly, tons of condo listings are expiring or being canceled. Sellers are still holding out for better days.
The other notable trend is the number of days that it takes these condos to sell. 4 out of the last 7 months have seen this number above 100 days. People who have to sell stick it out and take the price cuts to move on with their lives.
You can always find our latest statistics on the Chicago market here and we also keep inventory and days on the market data at the neighborhood level:
Bi-monthly mean every two months… semi-monthly would mean twice a month. Like department stores that have semi-annual sales that happen twice a year.
Check the definition here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bi-monthly