This week Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates averaged 4.54 percent for the United States as a whole and the North Central Region (which includes Illinois). That’s another record low.

According to Freddie Mac’s historical data, rates have dipped below 5 percent on occasion since 2009, but this level otherwise is unseen since it began tracking the data in 1971. Notably, 30-year rates hit an annual average high of 16.63 percent in 1981.

Now that the tax credit has passed, Illinois REALTORS® are reporting less buyer flurry which in part is seasonal given the typical summer lull for vacations and back-to-school. However, a major factor at play is the overhanging sense of uncertainty in America about jobs and the economy.

Still, if you are a recent trade-up buyer who sold during the tax credit period or a fence-sitter waiting for the right opportunity, this is it. Today’s combination of low rates and lower home prices has greatly increased homebuyer affordability.

Although a buyer might be waiting for an even lower price on a home, in my recent interview with IAR Convention speaker and Inman News columnist Bernice Ross, she explained how this thinking just doesn’t make financial sense. “Assume you have a 5 percent interest rate on a $200,000 house. If the price of the home would lower by $10,000 that doesn’t compare with the $50,000 more in interest a buyer would have to pay if the mortgage interest rate goes up just one percentage point.”

Plus in many markets in Illinois home prices are gaining traction. Statewide the median price was up in June for the fourth month this year.

There’s been something missing from property tax assessments. Until now, distressed property sales and the effect they have on area property values were not considered in the assessment process.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® supported a bill that sought to amend the Illinois Property Tax Code and include distressed property sales into property tax assessments. Senate Bill 3334, which became law on July 16, will allow for a more complete and balanced picture of property values in a community. Property owners who seek to appeal their property taxes will be armed with the most accurate information available.

The IAR Governmental Affairs team provided real estate expertise and knowledge needed to craft this legislation, which is meant to result in more accurate property tax assessments.

Watch the video below for more details regarding the new law:

If you’re like me you need access to files from two (or more) computers AND a phone. I hate carrying around a USB flash drive all the time! Besides, I can’t plug that into my Droid Eris!

THEN I have the problem of getting all the pictures I’ve taken off my phone. Don’t get me started on that!

Well, the solution that fits me is a software download called “Dropbox.” Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers.

Go to www.dropbox.com and download the version you need (e.g., Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android or BlackBerry).

I downloaded and installed it to my Windows, Mac and Android devices. A folder was created on my computer during the install process. In my case it was C:\My Dropbox. When I add a file (picture, video, etc.) to that folder it immediately synchronized it to my space on the Dropbox website as well as my other computers that have Dropbox already installed.

The Dropbox Android app doesn’t download the files to your phone like your computer does; that would take up too much space on your phone. Instead the app connects you to your space on the Dropbox website and allows you to download the files individually.

You can also (and this is really cool) take a picture on your phone and immediately save it to your Dropbox. If you save music in Dropbox you can even stream it to you phone. WOW!

There’s a public folder in Dropbox where I can save files I intend to share with people. Each file can have its own publicly accessible link that you can forward to anyone. There’s another sharing feature that allows you to lock it down to someone with a Dropbox account. This is a great way to quickly share files without e-mailing them. It also cuts down on multiple versions of the same file.

Dropbox pricing: Dropbox has a free version that gives you 2GB of space. I’ve yet to see if that’s going satisfy my need. If I used it as my primary backup plan then absolutely NOT. For casual file sharing though it might actually be sufficient.

If you need more space you can upgrade to Pro 50 or Pro 100. Pro 50 gives you 50GB for $9.99 per month and Pro 100 gives you, yep, 100GB for $19.99 per month.

There are certainly other solutions out there like Microsoft’s Live Sync or Box.net but I really like the functionality of Dropbox. Comment on the post and let me know what file sync tool you like.

(These opinions and comments are the author’s and not necessarily those of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®).

For the first time ever, Illinois will join other states in offering a state sales tax holiday when purchasing items designated during the upcoming 10-day period.  Parents getting ready to send children back to school will certainly benefit from this state sales tax reprieve saving sales tax on such items as clothing, footwear and school supplies. Computers are excluded. The tax holiday runs from August 6-15 and it is anticipated that the holiday will boost Illinois businesses and retail sales statewide.

Virtually all supplies are included in the tax holiday including book bags, binders, crayons, erasers, glue, pencils, notebook paper, scissors, supply boxes, writing tablets and more. Clothing must cost less than $100 per item, such as shoes, coats, rainwear, uniforms, pants, dresses, hats, neckties, skirts, hosiery and even rubber pants. During the holiday, the 5 percent state portion of sales taxes collected at retail registers will be waived, while local government sales taxes will continue to be collected.

To learn more about the state sales tax holiday, see the Illinois Department of Revenue flyer promoting the complete list of what is eligible at: http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Bulletins/2010/FY-2010-17.pdf.

Home prices in Illinois are showing signs of stabilizing according to the June home sales report released today by the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. The homebuyer tax credit has proven to be a boost to the housing market with 10 straight months of year-over-year gains in home sales activity statewide, and a full year of mostly double-digit gains in the nine-county Chicago region.

Going forward University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings expects sales to continue posting year-over-year gains through September. This gain in sales activity may be due to a residual effect of the sales of homes purchased using the homebuyer tax credit which ended April 30 and the extension of the closing deadline to September 30 of this year.

Jobs remain the key factor affecting consumer confidence, the overall economy and the housing market.

Said Dr. Hewings in his July forecast: “The economy is certainly not helping the housing market; the loss of over 200,000 temporary census jobs overwhelmed the private sector gains of 83,000 jobs.” As reported by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday in his testimony to Congress, slower economic growth is on the horizon along with a prolonged sluggish recovery in the labor market.

Both the national and Illinois unemployment rates lowered a bit in June (from 9.7% in May to 9.5% nationwide and from 10.8% in May to 10.4% in Illinois). However, according to the forecast: ”There is some concern that the surge in employment nationally may be slowing, dampening prospects for growth in Illinois.”

Dr. Hewings noted rental leasing rates have increased about 1% from a year ago: ”Over time, if rental rates continue to increase, this may generate some renewed expectation that renters will explore becoming homeowners.”

Here’s a snapshot from IAR’s June Illinois home sales report:

Illinois

• 10th month in a row for home sales increases; sales up 18.3%
• June 2010 median price up 2.5% to $170,000 compared to June 2009 (the fourth month for median price increases statewide since January 2010)

Chicago PMSA*

• 12th month in a row for sales increases; sales up 27.2%
• June 2010 median price down -1.2% to $207,500 compared to June 2009
• Grundy, Kendall and Lake all reported median price increases

*The Chicago PMSA region includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Alongside the recent wave of first-time buyers (47% of buyers in 2009 according to the National Association of REALTORS®) also comes a trend in the number of single homebuyers and, in particular, single women buyers. NAR’s 2009 homebuyer profile found 21 percent of buyers nationwide were single women and 10 percent single men. The number of single women buyers is up from just 14% in 1995.

In an online exclusive in the July Illinois REALTOR® Magazine, Chicago REALTOR® Julie Woodward-Trenker, ABR, CRS, with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Lakeview says 60 percent of her business has evolved into singles over her 10 years in real estate (primarily single women) largely due to a niche she’s developed with first-time buyers.

Says Trenker: “There’s a lot to commend about women taking control of their own financial future, investing for themselves.”

Four years into his real estate career at Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty in Peoria, REALTOR® Adam LaHood’s market has become 36 percent single buyers. He and partner Jim Gillespie have built a referral base from the area’s young engineers working at Caterpillar and doctors and nurses from the region’s many hospitals—mainly because they’re in a similar age group, same social scene and are connected via Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites.

“I think that unlike my father’s generation or people five and 10 years older than me, younger singles and younger married people are working to live rather than living to work,” says LaHood, age 34. “This factors into their desire for homes with outdoor living spaces, the ability to walk to bars and restaurants and specialty shopping.”

For more single buyer trends, check out a Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey that found over half (53 percent) of single homeowners reported that they purchased a home because it was more cost effective than renting in their area, and most single homeowners (52%) chose to buy in the suburbs versus the city or rural areas.

BUYING YOUR FIRST PLACE? Then HGTV is looking for you!

MY FIRST PLACE, HGTV’s hit series, is coming back for another season and is looking for first-time homebuyers (and their REALTORS®) in the St. Louis area RIGHT NOW!

The show is looking for fun, high-energy people who are just starting the home-buying process for their first place and would like to share their story with HGTV! The goal is to capture all the trials and tribulations of looking for, bidding on and buying your first place.

Taping takes place this summer.  Ideal candidates will be enthusiastic buyers with a great story to tell and a desire to share their experiences. Singles, couples and families are all invited to apply!

Candidates who complete taping will receive a surprise housewarming gift as part of the show and also a DVD copy of their episode to document their first home buying experience for all time!

Want to learn more? Request an application by e-mailing Amy Stoehrmann at astoehrmann@highnoontv.com or by calling her at (303) 712-3145.

Money Magazine selected four Illinois towns for their annual “100 Best Places to Live” list. Bolingbrook (#43), Naperville (#54), Mt. Prospect (#56) and Arlington Heights (#59) all made the cut according to CNNMoney.com. All four Chicagoland towns were chosen for their healthy job markets, excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, low crime rates, recreational opportunities, charm and other attributes that make them ideal places to call home.

Several other Illinois towns were featured in lists that boasted specific draws to potential homebuyers. Both Bolingbrook and Joliet were listed in the Top 25 “Places Where Homes are Affordable.” Money Magazine described Bolingbrook (#8) as an “ethnically diverse, affluent town” with affordable deals for homebuyers. In the Chicago suburb, some four-bedroom, two-bath houses sell for under $200,000. Joliet’s (#18) meteoric rise in population since 2000—a staggering 37 percent—transformed this one-time steel town to a destination for Illinois families. In this southeast suburb, a 2,000-square-foot home can cost less than $190,000.

Single and looking to mingle? Two Illinois cities graced the list as destinations for the rich and single. The artsy Oak Park (#13) and North Shore university town Evanston (#16) have singles making up more than 30 percent of their overall population and plenty of singles hotspots—corner cafes, art galleries and eclectic restaurants.

One Illinois city placed on the magazine’s list of cities with the cleanest air. College town Champaign (#21) has high air quality with air pollution levels well below the national average.

See Money Magazine’s full lists here.

Picture a room filled with REALTORS® gathered in small, informal groups, sharing their best ideas and tips for using the latest technology and social media tools for business. It’s unstructured, unconventional and what Real Estate BarCamps are all about.

So just what is a Real Estate BarCamp?

RE BarCamps are held all over the country and have been described as “user generated conferences” where the content is determined and driven by those attending. Sessions are added to the schedule on the fly, based on evolving topics of interest to attendees and presenters. And presentations are informal with plenty of audience participation.

A recent RE BarCamp St. Louis was no different. Attendees talked about everything from the future of virtual tours, effective ways to use video and the how to get the most out of blogging and Twitter.

There were so many great ideas and conversations. Here are few random tips and highlights from the sessions I attended:

• Think about making your blog your official website, sending your web traffic to one place.
• Don’t add music to your site. People often surf the web at work and they’ll be quick to jump off your site if music comes blaring out of their cubicles.
• Keep blog posts simple and concise. If you have a lot to say, break up the copy with multiple subject headers to keep readers interested.
• If you haven’t yet, invest in a Flip video camera. It’s an inexpensive ($150 to $280 depending on the model) and handy way to shoot video.
• If you do shoot videos, keep them short – two minutes or under is a good goal.
• Use Yelp, the user review site, to help manage your online reputation.
• Communicate with clients the way they want to communicate. If they contact you through email, respond by email.
• And finally, don’t get so caught up in return on investment that you forget to have fun with social media.

According to a recent report by Realty Trac, more than a third of the homes sold in Illinois in the first quarter of 2010 were in a stage of foreclosure when they were bought. One of the results of this has been that Illinois municipalities are coming up with new and varied ways to deal with “distressed properties.” With residential properties that are in foreclosure or have been abandoned, issues associated with basic property maintenance and delinquencies in water and sewer service charges tend to arise.

Recently in Waukegan and North Chicago proposals have been introduced which make a real estate licensee (e.g., a broker who is marketing the home) responsible for registering the property with the city and maintaining the property if it is vacant. Local REALTOR® associations, working with the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) local Government Affairs Director, are opposing this provision.

Other municipalities have enacted what has become known as the “zero-dollar transfer stamp” or a transfer stamp fee (ranging from $25 to $100). The purpose of these stamps is to stop the transfer of a property until all delinquent municipal service charges are completely paid. (A deed cannot be recorded if municipal transfer stamps are not issued.)

IAR opposes these measures and argues that they are an unconstitutional restriction on the free transfer of private property. There are other statutory tools available to municipalities to address delinquent charges. Under state law, cities have a method of collecting for unpaid services and can utilize an authority to have a lien on real estate. IAR has advocated for the use of this method instead of the enormous power to prohibit the transfer altogether.

Several municipalities have, as a part of their real estate transfer tax ordinances, a provision which exempts certain transactions from the assessment of the transfer tax. One of the exempt transactions (contained in most transfer tax ordinances) is a property transferred through a foreclosure order. Most of the transfer tax ordinances include a nominal fee for the exempt transactions. In recent months, a few municipalities have increased this fee. This type of increase—as well as any transfer tax increase—is actively opposed by IAR.

The Chicago City Council is currently considering a proposal which would remove the foreclosure exemption altogether. This would make foreclosure transfers subject to the city’s real estate transfer tax. The local IAR Government Affairs Director is monitoring this proposal and will be expressing objections to it in the coming months.