The start of a new year brought more Illinois homebuyers into the market, driving up home sales and median prices in January, data from Illinois REALTORS® shows.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in January totaled 8,426 homes sold, up 12.2 percent from 7,512 in January 2019.
The statewide median price in January was $190,000, up 2.2 percent from January 2019, when the median price was $185,850. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“The Illinois housing market got off to a strong start in January with gains in both home sales and median prices,” said Ed Neaves, president of Illinois REALTORS® and designated managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. “Winter weather didn’t dampen the interest of consumers who are looking to buy and are ready to move quickly and pay more to get the home they want given the tight housing inventories.”
The time it took to sell a home in January averaged 66 days, an increase of 4.8 percent from the year before. Available inventory totaled 44,880 homes for sale, a 7.7 percent decline from 48,631 homes in January 2019.
According to the data, home sales in the Rockford MSA (Boone and Winnebago counties) totaled 288 units, a 29.7 percent increase while the median price was up 2.0 percent to $117,250; home sales in the Peoria MSA (Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell and Woodford counties) totaled 284, a 20.9 percent increase while the median price increased 4.2 percent to $118,750.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 3.62 percent in
January, a decrease from 3.72 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In January 2019, it averaged 4.46 percent.
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in January totaled 5,795, up 9.5 percent from January 2019 sales of 5,293 homes. The median price in January was $233,000 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 4.0 percent from $224,000 in January 2019.
“January started off the new year on a positive note with home sales and prices increasing month-over-month and annually, reflecting recent national sales trends,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “The pending sales index suggests this momentum may be sustained for the next several months and consumers are optimistic about the short- and medium-term prospects for the economy. The major concern continues to be the amount of inventory for sale.”
The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales increase 5.9 percent with 1,427 sales in January, compared to 1,347 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in January was $269,000 up 5.5 percent compared to January 2019 when it was $255,000.
“In January, we saw slight upward growth in closed sales and median sales price,” said Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty. “We continue to see a downturn in inventory. The combination shows we still have demand, but without the inventory to show for it.”
Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 26 participating Illinois REALTORS® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of Feb. 7, 2020 for the period Jan. 1 through Jan. 31, 2020. 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, including the 2020 market forecast at www.IllinoisRealtors.org/MarketStats.
