The Illinois housing market continued to heat up in January as home sales and median prices climbed higher and inventory dipped lower, according to data released by Illinois REALTORS®.

Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in January 2021 totaled 10,134 homes sold, up 18.1 percent from 8,580 in January 2020.

The statewide median price in January was $225,000, up 18.4 percent from $190,000 in January 2020. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

“The 2021 state housing market got off to a roaring start in January with higher annual home sales and prices,” said Sue Miller, president of Illinois REALTORS® and designated managing broker of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group in McHenry. “Winter isn’t slowing down consumers who are eager to buy, but tight inventory and an increasingly competitive market have become obstacles.”

It took an average of 47 days to sell a home in January, down from 65 days a year ago.  Homes for sale totaled 26,844, a 42.9 percent decline from January 2020 when there were 47,052 homes on the market.

According to the data, home sales in the Champaign-Urbana MSA (Champaign, Piatt and Ford counties) totaled 152 sales, a 19.7 percent increase while the median price was up 13.6 percent to $155,000. In the Metro East MSA (Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties) home sales totaled 594, a 24.3 percent increase. The median price was up 14.8 percent to $155,000.

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 2.74 percent in January 2021, an increase from 2.68 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In January 2020, it averaged 3.62 percent.

Last month, 7,097 homes (single-family and condominiums) were sold in the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, a 20.5 percent increase from the 5,892 homes sold in January 2020.

The median home sale price in January 2021 was $270,000 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 16.1 percent from $232,500 in January 2020.

“The housing sector continues to show positive trends in both sales and prices in Chicago and Illinois,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, emeritus director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “There is some optimism that the effects of accelerated vaccination, a stimulus package and continued low interest rates will sustain the momentum with historically low inventory serving as the only drag on the market.”

In the city of Chicago, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in January 2021 totaled 1,670 homes sold, up 14.2 percent from January 2020 sales of 1,462 homes.

The median price of a home in Chicago in January 2021 was $310,000, up 15.9 percent compared to January 2020 when it was $267,500.

“As we started to settle from the outcome of the election and the beginning stages of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, we saw strong sales in January,” said Nykea Pippion McGriff, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and vice president of brokerage services at Coldwell Banker Realty. “Buyers created a surge in winter activity, with a 21.2 percent increase in condo closed sales as well as a 14.2 percent increase in closed sales of all properties. Inventory dipped slightly year over year, which may have played a part in the double digit (15.9 percent) change in median sales price for all properties and a -13.5 percent decline in days on market.”

Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 23 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of Feb. 7, 2021 for the period Jan. 1 through Jan. 31, 2021. The Chicago Metro Area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Illinois REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose more than 50,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, Illinois 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.illinoisrealtors.org/marketstats.