Without an increase in available adequate housing inventory during October, home sales fell again, and median prices rose, according to data from Illinois REALTORS®.

The number of statewide home sales and the available housing inventory in October 2023 dropped in comparison to October 2022 figures. In October 2023, statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) of 10,705 homes sold was 8.5 percent lower than 11,702 sold in October 2022. Also, the monthly median price of $265,000 in October 2023 was 7.1 percent higher than it was the year before at $247,500.

In October there were only 21,287 homes for sale statewide, a 25.5 percent decrease from 28,564 homes on the market in October 2022. Homes sold an average of 25 days this past October, compared to 29 in October 2022.

“REALTORS® continue to provide their unique expertise to those consumers whose personal situation makes now still a good time for them to buy and/or sell their home despite the external factors negatively affecting the housing market,” says Matt Silver, Illinois REALTORS® 2024 president and partner and senior broker for Corcoran Urban Real Estate in Chicago. “To further help consumers, we also are advocating for policymakers to stop increasing all types of taxes for selling or owning a home, to eliminate burdensome regulations on property owners and to incentivize the construction of new homes to combat the woeful amount of affordable housing available at all levels.”

In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, October 2023 home sales (single-family and condominiums) totaled 7,118 homes sold, down 8.3 percent from October 2022 sales of 7,764 homes.

The median price of a home in the Chicago Metro Area in October 2023 was $317,500, up 5.8 percent from $299,990 in October 2022.

“The number of sales continues to decline throughout Illinois while prices continue to increase,” said Dr. Daniel McMillen, professor of real estate and associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Business Administration. “Our forecasts indicate that these trends will continue over the next three months throughout the state.”

The city of Chicago saw a 7.5 percent year-over-year home sales decrease in October 2023 with 1,610 sales, down from 1,740 in October 2022.

The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in October 2023 was $320,000, the same as in October 2022 when it was $320,000.

“In October, median sales price remained steady and market time nominally decreased,” said Drussy Hernandez, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and vice president of brokerage services for Coldwell Banker Realty in Chicago. “This shows that, at the core of our market, there is a steady stream of people who need to buy and sellers who are motivated to sell. Inventory shortages continue to be one of the biggest challenges for buyers in the market.”

Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 22 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of Nov. 7, 2023, for the period Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, 2023. 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.

Based on the Freddie Mac data, the monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 7.62 percent in October 2023, up from the previous month of 7.20 percent. The October 2022 average was 6.90 percent.

Find Illinois housing stats, data and forecasts at www.illinoisrealtors.org/marketstats/.

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.