CRChicago.com

It is interesting, is real estate recovering or did we see a temporary spike this Spring?

Our business in 2009 was up 24% over 2008 and so far in 2010 it is up 50% over 2009! We are seeing sales closing. Now maybe this was due to the first time buyer credit and maybe the rest of the year will level out, but this increase in transactions, which reflects the results of the overall market as well, will go a long way to assure buyers they are making the right decision to move forward today. And it has confirmed to the sellers that, while prices may not be what they would like, when the home is priced properly, it will sell.

All in all, the Spring 2010 has been great at Charles Rutenberg Realty. We look forward to the Summer and to closing out the year with an active Fall market.

Well, we didn’t win the Small Business of the Year award but it was still an enjoyable process to go through and the awards banquet was quite impressive. The winner was Anderson Bookstore in Naperville. Theirs is a story of a long and successful operation in the Naperville area.

Back to real estate, we are continuing see an increase in activity in the Chicago area. Our activity, however, isn’t close to the activity that our Florida offices are experiencing. Florida hit the wall about a year earlier than we did and they are coming out of the doldrums with a vengeance. Perhaps a year from now the Chicago area will see a similar boom in sales activity. We will be ready for it!