Illinois home sales dipped in January, and median prices posted modest gains statewide, according to Illinois REALTORS®.
Illinois REALTORS® is providing revisions to housing data previously released on Feb. 21, 2019, to account for nearly 700 home sales which were omitted by a third-party vendor which compiles reports for the association.
The omitted data did cause a shift in some housing market measures. Sales still declined from previous year numbers, and inventories tightened marginally statewide.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in January totaled 7,464 homes sold, down 10.0 percent from 8,292 in January 2018.
The statewide median price in January was $187,000, up 1.1 percent from January 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.
The time it took to sell a home in January averaged 63 days, down from 65 days a year ago. Available inventory totaled 46,822 homes for sale, a 1.9 percent decline from 47,740 homes in January 2018.
According to the data, home sales in the Bloomington MSA (McLean and Dewitt counties) totaled 113, a 6.6 percent increase while the median price was down 2.2 percent to $144,000; and the Metro East MSA (Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties) totaled 474 units, a 2.3 percent decrease while the median price was up 14.5 percent to $131,600.
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in January totaled 5,266 homes sold, down 10.2 percent from January 2018 sales of 5,866 homes. The median price in January was $224,900 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 0.9 percent from $223,000 in January 2018.
According to the data, twenty-eight (28) Illinois counties reported sales gains for January over previous-year numbers, including Kendall County, up 4.1 percent with 128 units sold; and McLean County, up 4.0 percent with 103 units sold. Forty-five (45) counties showed year-over-year median price increases including Winnebago County, up 9.9 percent to $100,000; and Lake County, up 7.0 percent to $230,000.
The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decrease 7.4 percent with 1,337 sales in January, compared to 1,444 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in January was $252,000 down 4.9 percent compared to January 2018 when it was $265,000.
Illinois REALTORS® gathers housing data monthly from Multiple Listing Services serving 27 participating local REALTOR® associations and boards, including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. The local associations and the MLSs were not the source of the data omissions which prompted this revised report. The report is based on data for January which was compiled Feb. 26, 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.
