Aurora’s annual Cinco de Mayo festival was held over the weekend near the Aurora Metra station. For those residents who braved the rain on Saturday or came out for some fun on Sunday, the festival offered visitors fun, food and music. A stage located at the south end of the grounds featured traditional spanis music and attracted a huge crowd. Also evident (by the smells wafting over the entire festival) was the tasty traditional mexical food - tacos, fried onions, shaved ice and other delights. There were also carnival rides and games for the children making this festival perfect for the family. One thing I didn’t see that seems synonomous with Cinco de Mayo was Cerveza and Tequila. While I personally love imbibing a bit to celebrate this holiday, I appreciated the absense of them here. It made for a more family-oriented festival.

Over the past few weeks, me and my fellow agents have noticed an increase in activity from both home buyers and home sellers. This is actually a bit earlier than expected but points to a market upswing that is welcome news to many in the business as well as home owners. Despite a rather large drop in average sales price over the winter months, we’re seeing more activity in all price ranges. Aurora is still a source for affordable housing in the western suburbs yet, the city offers many high-end options as well. During the winter, the higher price ranges were stagnatnt while the lower value homes continued to sell at a moderate pace.