Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Gloor Realty: Mid-2010 Reality Check

BHG/ Gloor Realty's Mid-2010 `Real Estate Reality Check'

Housing prices rise slightly in Oak Park amid drops in River Forest and Forest Park...Low interest rates represent great long-term opportunity

By Matt Baron/For BHG/Gloor Realty

In the early stages of his U.S. Senate bid, a relative unknown named Barack Obama stands out mostly for possessing the most unusual name from among a crowded field of candidates.

Led by flame-throwing pitchers Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, this has all the makings of the "next year" that Chicago Cubs fans have been yearning for since 1908.

And mirroring the national trend, average home sale prices in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park enjoy another year of seemingly endless growth.
Welcome back to the year 2003.

When it comes to thinking about the local real estate market—and the "new normal" that has settled in after the economy's peak in 2007—it may seem like an apt frame of reference, said Rich Gloor, president of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gloor Realty.

Yet there's one other number that should be of particular interest to any prospective seller or buyer: the interest rate on 30-year mortgages is now about 4.5 percent, a full 1.5 percentage points below the roughly 6-percent rate of 2003.

"Having an interest rate at near-historical lows is great news for both buyers and sellers. It means the long-term cost is so much more manageable than if the rate were higher," Gloor pointed out. "Depending on the mortgage amount, we're talking upwards of tens of thousands of dollars."

For the rest of the story, visit http://www.TribLocal.com and type "Real Estate Reality Check" into the search box.

In addition, Jim Jaworski of TribLocal wrote a story that appeared on Aug. 5, 2010, with Rich Gloor as a key source: http://tinyurl.com/247g328

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• Better Homes and Gardens
• Gloor Realty
• Rich Gloor
• real estate prices
• Oak Park
• River Forest
• Forest Park