Illinois home prices see uptick in November; Sales dial back

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – December 23, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Illinois home prices posted continued gains with November marking 39 consecutive months of year-over-year increases while sales slowed slightly amid tighter inventory, according to the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in November 2015 totaled 9,640 homes sold, down 3.5 percent from November 2014 when 9,989 homes sold.

The statewide median price in November 2015 rose to $165,000, a 6.5 percent gain over November 2014’s statewide median price of $154,900. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

“Buyers are having to move fast to get the home they want in this market,” said Mike Drews, GRI, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and a broker-associate with Charles B. Doss & Co. in Aurora. “Houses are selling at a brisk pace, even in the face of continued median price increases.”

The time it took to sell a home in November averaged 67 days statewide, down from 74 days a year ago. Available housing inventory remained tight with 63,023 homes for sale, an 11.7 percent decline from November 2014 when there were 71,385 homes.

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central Region was 3.93 percent in November 2015, up from 3.78 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In November 2014 it averaged 3.98 percent.

In the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, home sales (single family and condominiums) in November 2015 totaled 6,836, a decrease of 3.9 percent from the 7,115 sales in November 2014. The median price in November in the Chicago PMSA was $196,000, up 7.9 percent from $181,690 in November 2014.

“Median prices continued to increase even though sales declined on both a monthly and an annual basis,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Much of this decline can be attributed to the significant drop in the sales of foreclosed properties. Adjusted for inflation, house prices in Illinois have recovered to 91 percent of their November 2008 level; the comparable figure for Chicago is 84 percent. At current rates of growth of prices, recovery will take between 12 and 18 months in both cases.”

According to the data, thirty-four (34) Illinois counties reported sales gains for November 2015 over previous-year numbers, including Rock Island County, up 23.4 percent with 116 units sold; Peoria County, up 13.0 percent with 148 units sold; and Kendall County, up 3.6 percent with 143 units sold.

Sixty (60) counties recorded median price gains in November 2015 over previous-year numbers, including Sangamon County, up 14.4 percent to $134,450; Winnebago County, up 12.3 percent to $87,000; and Cook County, up 8.3 percent to $198,000.

The city of Chicago saw sales of 1,615 homes in November 2015, down 1.4 percent from last year when 1,638 homes were sold. The median price of a home in Chicago was $235,000, up 2.2 percent over November 2014 when the median price was $230,000.

“Median prices in the Chicago market posted a strong showing in November, boosted by a lower number of properties from which to choose,” said Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president for government relations for The Inland Real Estate Group. “To see inventories drop more than 16 percent year over year in Chicago clearly signals that buyers want to start the new year in a new home.”

Sales and price information is generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 28 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC as of Dec. 7, 2015 for the period of Nov. 1 through Nov. 30. The Chicago PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. (Note: Due to a technical difficulty with the multiple listing service upload, data for the Mid Valley Association of REALTORS® is not included in the November report.)

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose 43,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS® works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation to safeguard and advance the interest of real property ownership.

Find Illinois housing stats, data and the University of Illinois REAL forecast at www.illinoisrealtor.org/marketstats.

MEDIA ONLY: Economist Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings will be available for media interviews between 9 a.m. and noon CST on Dec. 22. He can be reached at 312-320-3460.

Contact: Stephanie Sievers, 217-529-2600