Urbana, IL

For a local real estate report covering a broader area, check out our January 2012 Market Report for Champaign County IL. Here's the update specifically for and concerning only the City of Urbana:

Compared to 2010, there were more listings and fewer home sales in Urbana in 2011. With tougher competition, it's easy to understand why the average sale price dropped a little, as well. Interestingly, the neighboring city of Champaign saw fewer listings in 2011 (as well as fewer sales). Champaign also experienced an increase in sales in the highest price range while Urbana saw a decrease, though Urbana also doesn't have nearly as many "luxury homes," in general.

One statistic which can be used to foresee future sales is a measure of the pending sales, meaning homes that are under contract with a buyer. For January 2012, Urbana has fewer pending sales than a year ago. However, look at the numbers for February! Pending sales almost doubled for February 2012 compared to a year ago!

Now, I tend to see numbers that look good and not believe them, so I worried that perhaps foreclosures were up significantly for the month. But after investigating, I discovered that only 3 of these 33 pending sales are foreclosures and in looking at last year's numbers, 2 - 3 foreclosure sales each month in Urbana is typical. It appears as though the substantial increase is pending sales is actually worthy of excitement ;-)

Here's our City of Champaign Market Update which covers the same time period as our Urbana update. Stick around and we'll have the market update for Savoy posted soon!

*Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed to be accurate. Statistics in this report were obtained through the Champaign County Association of Realtors®

Guess who I found strolling along Candlestick Lane this evening? None other than Santa Claus!

Candlestick Lane, otherwise known as Grant Place, has for 50 years been an Urbana holiday tradition. It began in the early 1960s when the power company sponsored a house decorating competition. The homes on Grant Place won and ever since have decked their homes with lights, holiday decor and, of course, candlesticks during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

During those weeks, all the homes are lit up from 5pm to 10pm daily and on some evenings, such as tonight, Santa hands out candy in the middle of the street as cars, bumper to bumper, slowly pass by with passengers marveling at the sight.

The light show continues through Christmas day. Be sure to drive by...and please give my kind regards to Santa!

Every year on Saturdays from mid-November through Christmas there's a delightful holiday market inside Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana. Local businesses and artists participate in providing a wide assortment of goods for purchase from locally grown produce to handcrafted pottery and soaps. You could do every bit of your holiday shopping in one Saturday at the holiday market!

Once you've finished shopping, just stop by the Urbana Business Association booth and have your gifts wrapped...all proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society and your gifts will look prettier than ever this year.

Of course, no holiday market would be complete without the presence of Santa himself. Yes, Santa will be there to take your Christmas wish list. Then, for a donation of $6 you can have your own holiday picture with Santa which will benefit our local Urbana High School Choir!

'Tis the season of giving...and the perfect place to start your giving is at the Holiday Market!

When: Saturdays through December 17th, 8am - 1pm

Where: Inside Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana

Cost: As little or as much as you want to spend :-)

All summer long construction crews worked busily to tear down the old Urbana High School Stadium and subsequently build a brand-new athletic complex. Finally, just weeks ago the new structure was unveiled! The Urbana Tigers are officially enjoying their new playing grounds which include a low-maintenance artificial turf field surrounded by a running track, a spacious concession area and plenty of storage for both sports and band equipment. From an outsider's perspective, the athletic complex is a beautiful sight.

Congrats to the Urbana school district on a fantastic improvement that will, no doubt, see much use and bring much joy to the students. Go Tigers!!!