There are some interesting figures on the Chamber of Commerce Biz Barometer for July. The news from the real estate front isn’t good. Compared to July of ‘07, fewer homes sold for a lower average price after spending a month more on the market. The motor fuel tax revenue is down (not surprisingly), but the sales tax revenue is actually up slightly. Are more people staying in Pekin to do their shopping instead of driving across the river?
Chamber of Commerce Biz Barometer, July 2008
August 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Business · Chamber of Commerce · Pekin
2 responses so far ↓
1
Brian A. Graham
// Aug 28, 2008 at 11:30 am
The sales tax is a spike caused by the one time hit caused by the mailing of the stimulus checks. Unemployment has been trending upward, and if you look at the economic reports the past several months, it is apparent that we haven’t hit bottom yet. I wonder what the poverty level is for kids at District 108 this year and for the city overall. BTW I like the changes and I hope you keep the content coming.
2
Michelle
// Sep 27, 2008 at 12:55 am
I’ll tell you one interesting thing about the real estate market. I have been trying to sell my house since this spring, and it’s been terrible. We thought we had it sold right away, but a few days before the closing the bank (which had preapproved our buyer) backed out. Bad news for us, since we were listed as “pending” the entire hot-as-it-gets-right-now spring season. Since then, I had one investor who thought he could scoop it up for $30,000 less than I paid for it, which enraged me. He assumed the house was a foreclosure, or that I must be desperate and willing to let myself be screwed. There are sharks out there, folks, buying up houses left and right from people with no options but to let themselves be taken advantage of. They are offering cash and scooping up houses that lower income people might like but need time to arrange financing. One realtor told me she’s had several single moms try to buy a house now, and in each instance an investor has rushed in and offered cash and bought it out from under them. It is crazy. So in my case, I realized I’m far better off renting the thing out, and that is just what I did. And you know what? There are TONS of folks out there who have the money to pay a big rent every month but who cannot get a loan. I have no plans (or ability) to buy more houses, but boy, those who do will be making their fortunes by getting them dirt cheap, renting them out, and eventually selling them once prices recover. I advertised for less than a week, and must have gotten 40 calls. I guess I could have easily gotten an extra $100 per month.People are desperate for decent houses to rent.
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