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Chicago Business reports from Illinois. “Buyers signed contracts for 1,207 downtown condos and townhomes in the quarter, a 46% plunge from 2,243 in the year-earlier period, according to a report by a Chicago-based real estate consulting firm. It was the seventh straight quarter of declining sales and the biggest quarterly percentage drop so far.”

“‘Buyers have numerous options. They have little sense of urgency,’ the report says. ‘And these buyers are now fewer in number with the retreat of many investors and speculators who had been flooding the market a few years ago.’”

“Some developers have responded to the weaker market by scaling back their plans. Yet other developers are moving full speed ahead with new projects, indicating that the supply of unsold condos is more likely to rise than fall in the coming months.”

“Downtown developers had 7,416 unsold condos at the end of the first quarter, up only slightly from 7,405 at the end of 2006. Sales fell 29% last year, to 5,783 units, and could drop to 3,500 to 4,000 units in 2007, Appraisal Research estimates.”

The Chicago Tribune. “With first-quarter downtown condominium sales cut nearly in half from the year-ago period, auctions are a quick way to sell, eliminating months of carrying costs for owners willing to let go of property for well below asking prices.”

“The number of properties sold on the block has doubled from last year for Inland Real Estate Auctions Inc. ‘Now there’s an oversupply of pretty much everything, including luxury housing,’ said Frank Diliberto, Inland Real Estate Auctions president. ‘For higher-priced housing, there may be less inventory, but there are fewer buyers.’”

“Until 18 months ago, most of the company’s Midwest activity involved commercial property. Now, its auctions involve a substantial supply of housing. The last time the company had so much residential activity was in the real estate downturn of the early 1990s, he said.”

“Last month Inland auctioned 17 newly renovated condos in the Rogers Park neighborhood. They sold for about 15 percent below asking price on average.”

The Courier News. “Home prices in Illinois held steady in the first quarter of 2007, but sales plummeted more than 14 percent from the year-ago figures, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.”

“Association figures for Kane County show a slightly greater dip in single-family home sales: down 16.7 percent compared to first-quarter 2006 sales.” “The median home sale price in Kane County was $243,000, down about 3 percent over the same period last year.”