2nd-hand sales to be higher in Champaign, Urbana

2nd hand sales to the Champaign-Urbana area will increase to $4.3 million from $2.8 million in the same period last year, the Champagne Regional Chamber of Commerce reported Tuesday.

The Chamber said that during the second quarter of the year, first-hand retail sales rose by 11.7 percent from $3.7 million to $5.3 billion.

Second hand sales in Champagne rose to $1.6 million in March from $1 million the previous quarter, the Chamber reported.

In Champaign and Urbans, the number of second-handed stores increased by 11 percent to 832.

The chamber attributed that increase to a more-than 50 percent increase in second-home sales in Urbannan from the previous year.

The number of commercial second-homes rose by 3.7 percentage points in Champagnes case to 7,826.

While the number in Champabanks dropped 2.7 points, the increase was due to a decline in second homes in the city of Urbany, the chamber reported. 

Second-hand inventory is growing by more than 50 percent each year, said Paul McWilliams, president of the Champagnans Chamber of Business.