CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Realtors across the nation are painting a more optimistic picture for people wanting to buy homes this spring, but the same might not be true for Central Illinois.

They’re hoping the market bounces back after sales of previously occupied houses fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. Realtors point to lower mortgage rates; prices and more properties being listed. But is the same true in Central Illinois?

One local realtor said no. Stefanie Pratt from Coldwell Banker said she’s not seeing the same level of change in the area.

Pratt said she had a closing on Friday, and that the house had several buyers fighting for the property with a few cash offers. For her, that’s an indicator of tough times for buyers, especially for those trying to secure their first ever house.

“You’re going against a lot of first-time buyers, especially your FHA loans, which are first time buyer loans or real development, some conventional that you don’t see a lot of cash buyers on that, but we have been seeing more cash buyers still in the market,” Pratt said. “And cash can actually beat out because if you over list price, they’ll want to make sure that you can cover that amount over the list price in case there’s an appraisal issue. So, a cash buyer is much more apt to actually have that and not worry about that appraisal gap.”

But with some trends changing in bigger cities, she said the public could see them in Champaign soon.

Pratt said Champaign-Urbana is an insulated market because it’s a college town. Because of the constant need for housing, the city sees the effects of housing trends after they hit areas like Chicago.