IARBuzz (The Illinois Association of REALTORS® Blog)
Here is a recap of what was said on Twitter (#iargov) during the recent Illinois Association of REALTORS® Public Policy Meetings in East Peoria. Find highlights including photos and an economic forecast presentation at www.illinoisrealtor.org/publicpolicy.
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Illinois has seen year-over-year gains in home sales in recent months and the trend is expected to continue in early 2012, but foreclosures will affect prices, says University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings.
Speaking to Illinois REALTORS® in East Peoria, Ill. Wednesday, Hewings spoke of the relationship between the housing market and the Illinois economy and some of the issues facing both.
“We are starting to see some movement in the (housing) market,” Hewings said of recent home sales activity.
But the foreclosure overhang continues to be a factor. If something can be done to tackle the problem of distressed properties, it will mean positive changes for housing, Hewings said.
Hewings points to other issues affecting today’s housing market:
Find Dr. Hewings full presentation, “Housing and the Economy: Impacts and Forecasts” at www.illinoisrealtor.org.
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Political analyst Paul Green speaks to Illinois REALTORS® in East Peoria
Political analyst Paul Green’s assessment of today’s political climate: Illinois continues to be a fiscal mess, the redrawn legislative map isn’t likely to bring much change to the state’s political landscape and voters can expect the Republican Party’s choice for presidential candidate to go down to the wire.
Green, director of the Institute for Politics and the Arthur Rubloff Professor or Policy Studies at Roosevelt University and a political analyst for WGN Radio, shared his political insights Wednesday at the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) Public Policy Meetings in East Peoria, Ill.
REALTORS® from throughout the state are meeting this week to help shape IAR’s political agenda and goals for 2012 and Green’s analysis offered a peek at some of the big issues in Illinois and nationally.
Illinois’ economic problems are enormous and it affects operations not just at the state level but also at the local levels, Green said. The only way out of the mess: cut expenses, increase revenue and do a better job of managing both – tough prospects politically.
Looking at this year’s presidential election, Green said to expect obscene amounts
of money to be spent and don’t bet on Obama’s Republican challenger to be chosen
by the Republican Convention.
Ultimately, the battleground states to watch in the November election are the same nine that helped Barack Obama win in 2008: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, Green says.
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Is the American Dream of home ownership dead?
Just completed research presented to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® shows that just the opposite is true. A survey conducted earlier this month with IAR’s partner, Strategic Guidance Systems, gauged how Illinois residents perceive the housing market from a lifestyle and economic standpoint.
Among the findings presented at the Illinois Association of REALTORS® Public Policy meetings in East Peoria, Ill.:
“Home ownership does remain a fundamental part of the American Dream,” said Dan Ball, a consultant with Strategic Guidance Systems.
The results can be seen here: SGS-IL-IAR-11-HomeownershipBenchmark-freqs
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