Illinois housing market swings into spring with jump in home sales, prices

The Illinois housing market had a strong showing in January with home sales climbing 9.6 percent over previous-year levels. The statewide median price surging 10.7 percent higher,according to Illinois REALTORS®.

Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in January 2018 totaled 13,274 homes sold.  This is up 9.6 percent from 12,116 in January 2017.

The statewide median price in March was $189,900, up 10.7 percent from January 2017. The median price was $171,500. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

“Consumers this spring have no choice but to be nimble as they find fewer homes on the market and increased competition for those homes,” said Illinois REALTORS® President Doug Carpenter, ABR, AHWD, GRI, SFR of Mokena, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell in Orland Hills. “Many of the REALTORS® I talk to are reporting an increase in multiple offer situations, which means buyers can’t dawdle when they find what they want and they may want to make sure any offer they bring is an aggressive one.”

The time it took to sell a home in March averaged 67 days, down from 77 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 52,826 homes for sale, a 15.5 percent decline from March 2016 when there were 62,492 homes on the market.

Monthly average

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.20 percent in March 2017, an increase from 4.17 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In March 2016 it averaged 3.70 percent.

In the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), home sales (single-family and condominiums) in March 2017 totaled 9,661 homes sold, up 13.1 percent from March 2016 sales of 8,540 homes. The median price in March 2017 was $231,000 in the Chicago PMSA, an increase of 10.0 percent from $210,000 in March 2016.

“In inflation adjusted terms, both the Illinois and Chicago housing markets have recovered to their pre-recession levels,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois. “The consumer indices still reflect a positive outlook on the economy although the Home Purchase Sentiment Index declined, reflecting some elevated concerns about job security.”

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Read more of this article by Stephanie Sievers at http://bit.ly/2uDZPSf