This past November around 8,000 homes were sold in Illinois, which is a 14.2% increase from November 2010. As stated in a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the market for Chicago homes in the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) reported an even greater outcome: a 20.7% increase in sales.
The Illinois Association of Realtors announced the monthly improvement in statewide home sales, which includes condo units and single-family homes. The total number of closes rose to 7,954 for the month of November, up from 6,996 last year. Chicago home sales rose 20.4 percent from last year with 1,377 homes sold in the city. Sales in the Chicago area totaled 5,453 in November 2011 (up from 4,518 a year earlier).
Despite more robust sales figures, the median price reported across the state for November 2011 was down to $128,500 (11.4% less than in November 2010, when the price was $145,000). The median price of Chicago homes went down 14.3% from $182,500 in November 2010 to $160,000 this year.
In an interview in the Chicago Tribune, the President of the Chicago Association of REALTORS Bob Floss spoke about Chicago’s distressed homes market and how such properties are still responsible for lowering sale prices as buyers grab up deals. Floss said in the article, “Low interest rates and smart opportunities to buy make for favorable market conditions for both buyers and sellers looking to right-size to their lifestyle,"
The average interest rate for a fixed-rate mortgage lasting 30 years in the North Central region was 4.0% in November 2011. This is a very slight decrease from October when it was 4.07%. As Floss points out in the Tribune article, a recovery in the housing market is making itself known with the uptick in home sale activity, which he suspects will continue through 2012.
President of the Illinois Association of Realtors, Loretta Alonzo, stated in a release that was also reported in the Tribune, "As we move through the distressed properties, predominant in the Chicagoland market, and begin to see more positive reports on the jobs front we will be looking for some stabilization in home prices to coincide with the rising home sales."
The favorable trends occurring in both the Chicago PMSA and Illinois housing markets are largely attributed to the low housing inventory levels and high number of pending sales, according to Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois, also quoted in the same Tribune article.
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