[-I assume you have appealed your property tax.-]

You mean - appeal my assessment. No, I did not.

Why? As I wrote in an earlier post, I looked at 25 homes situated within a square mile of mine and if they weren't sold within the last year, they all had IDENTICAL [to mine] increases in Assessor's Value - 5.4% for 2007. I looked especially hard at homes that are EXACTLY the same as mine. They were all within $100-$200 of my Assessor's Value.

I have dealt with the assessor before and I know that the first thing they ask is "On what basis are you appealing your assessment?"

If you can't show them that somehow, your property has been unfairly assessed [significantly higher, or I guess, lower] than comparable properties, there really is no basis for a parcel-specific appeal.

Now, could I ask them why ALL properties seem to have increased in Assessor's Value when the hard market reality is that prices are declining? I guess so but I get the feeling that I might walk out with a low-grade hum in my head from the buzz saw of BS I'd get tossed at me.

I have opted to "wait and see" what the Local Rate is, on or about May 1st. I am prepared for a SMALL increase but man, it better be small, 2% or so.

FYI - I read in the Daily Herald yesterday that prices in Glen Ellyn rose 4% last year while volume is down 8%.

Good point Fan. I think across the board in the Chicago area housing was flat to slightly up in value. Glen Ellyn was probably well above average for the area.

Homes are taking longer to sell, on average, but values, especially in GE are holding up.

Hi!

This isn't for Glen Ellyn, it's for Wheaton, but I'm thinking it ought to be close enough for rock n' roll:

As of February 17, 2008 there are 367 active listings of single family detached homes in the MLS. At the 2007 level of absorption this is 9.21 months of unsold available inventory. A 3-4 months supply of inventory is considered "in balance", this level is an oversupply.

To recap 2007 for detached homes, sales volume was down -7.54%, average sales prices were down only -0.07% and are considered stable, and the days on the market were up +35.95%. This market is oversupplied and the 367 active listings have already been on the market an average of 220 days.

http://citywide.blogspot.com/2008/02/wheaton-il-60187-housing-market-2008.html

which is just like Floyd said.