Strong Illinois home sales and prices continue into September
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – October 22, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Positive housing market momentum carried into September with home sales and median prices experiencing healthy year-over-year gains as Illinois headed into the fall market, according to the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in September 2015 totaled 13,794 homes sold, up 5.6 percent from September 2014 when 13,058 homes sold.
The statewide median price in September 2015 rose to $172,000, a 6.2 percent gain over September 2014’s statewide median price of $162,000. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“The fall housing market has shown little sign that there’s any significant weakening in demand,” said Mike Drews, GRI, President of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and broker-associate with Charles B. Doss & Co. in Aurora. “While we always see a seasonal slowdown this year, this month’s numbers were quite strong, and indeed were the best sales numbers for September in a decade.”
The time it took to sell a home in September averaged 64 days statewide, down from 69 days a year ago. Available housing inventory remained tight with 70,547 homes for sale, a 10 percent decline from September 2014 when there were 78,373 homes.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central Region was 3.90 percent in September 2015, the same as it was the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In September 2014 it averaged 4.16 percent.
In the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, home sales (single family and condominiums) in September 2015 totaled 9,753, an increase of 5.3 percent from the 9,261 sales in September 2014.
The median price in September in the Chicago PMSA was $207,570, up 6.4 percent from $195,000 in September 2014.
“The annual pattern of home sales continues with modest annual gains but negative month-over-month growth rates,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “The dampening effect of less-than-expected job growth has not yet affected the housing market and housing prices continue to climb modestly. At the state level, the median price index, adjusted for inflation, is 91 percent of the 2008 peak; for Chicago, the comparable figure is 86 percent.”
According to the data, fifty (50) Illinois counties reported sales gains for September 2015 over previous-year numbers, including Tazewell County, up 36.5 percent with 187 units sold; Champaign County, up 17.1 percent with 212 units sold; Peoria County, up 10.7 percent with 238 units sold; and DuPage County, up 8.5 percent with 1,170 units sold.
Fifty-four (54) counties recorded median price gains in September 2015 over previous-year numbers, including Madison County, up 25 percent to $130,000; Kendall County, up 17.6 percent to $200,000; and Cook County, up 7.6 percent to $215,000.
The city of Chicago saw sales of 2,358 homes in September 2015, up 5.2 percent from last year when 2,242 homes were sold. The median price of a home in Chicago was $250,000, up 0.4 percent over September 2014 when the median price was $249,000.
“With increased sales and even stronger median price numbers, the Chicago market still shows a lot of life as we enter the last few months of the year,” said Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president of government relations for The Inland Real Estate Group. “The continued low number of homes available for sale shows consumers are still very much interested in buying.”
Sales and price information is generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 29 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC as of Oct. 7, 2015 for the period of Sept. 1 through Sept. 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.
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 CDT on Oct. 22. He can be reached at 312-320-3460.
Contact: Stephanie Sievers, 217-529-2600
