Illinois homes sales slipped while median prices held steady in February as the market closed out the typically slower winter months and began gearing up for spring, data from Illinois REALTORS® show.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in February totaled 8,174 homes sold, down 1.8 percent from 8,327 in February 2018.
The statewide median price in February was $187,000, up 1.1 percent from February 2018, when the median price was $185,000. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“Home sales were lower in February, but median prices are still recording steady growth in the state,” said Ed Neaves, Illinois REALTORS® president-elect and managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. “What’s notable is that the time it takes to sell a home is down three days, a market indicator which shows consumers want to buy, but may struggle to find enough options from which to choose.”
The time it took to sell a home in February averaged 68 days, down from 71 days a year ago. Available inventory totaled 47,711 homes for sale, a 3.0 percent decline from 49,193 homes in February 2018.
According to the data, home sales in the Metro East MSA (Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties) totaled 547, a 14.4 percent increase while the median price was up 0.2 percent to $126,000; and the Springfield MSA (Sangamon and Menard counties) totaled 168 units, a 13.5 percent increase while the median price was up 8.8 percent to $132,458.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.37 percent in
February, an increase from 4.46 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In February 2018, it averaged 4.33 percent.
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in February totaled 5,607, down 4.0 percent from February 2018 sales of 5,839 homes. The median price in February was $230,000 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 1.1 percent from $227,500 in February 2018.
“Housing prices continue their slow but steady increase,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “However, year-over-year sales exhibit negative trends for the next three months although month-to-month changes are forecast to be very positive.”
According to the data, forty-one (41) Illinois counties reported sales gains for February over previous-year numbers, including Champaign County, up 11.6 percent with 125 units sold; and Will County, up 3.5 percent with 526 units sold. Forty-eight (48) counties showed year-over-year median price increases including Winnebago County, up 15.0 percent to $115,000; and Kane County, up 3.0 percent to $226,500.
The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decrease 7.4 percent with 1,422 sales in February, compared to 1,535 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in February was $273,900 up 0.7 percent compared to February 2018 when it was $272,000.
“February’s data is in line with what we have come to expect as our market shifts,” said Tommy Choi, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and broker at Keller Williams Chicago – Lincoln Park. “Even though closed sales are down, median sales prices ticked up and both inventory and days on market declined, showing that, as we enter the spring market, buyers on the hunt are eager to take advantage of lower interest rates and are serious once they find their desired home.”
Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 27 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of March 7, 2019 for the period Feb. 1 through Feb. 28, 2019. 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, the University of Illinois REAL forecast and more at staging.illinoisrealtors.org/marketstats.
