CHICAGO—Home buyers in the seven-county metro Chicago real estate market took a breather in July, but last month they made up for that slowdown. August home sales totaled 11,802, according to RE/MAX, up 8% from the 10,900 homes sold in August 2015. Sales had declined 7% in July.
The median sales price also increased, reaching $231,806, 5% higher than during the prior August. And the average time required for a home sold in August to find a buyer was 76 days, three days more than in July of this year but the lowest August figure since 2005 at the peak of the housing boom.
However, a relative shortage of inventory continues to be an issue for the Chicago region, and helps explain why home buyers move so quickly these days. “The inventory of homes for sale was 10% lower at the end of August than it had been a year earlier,” Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of Elgin, IL-based RE/MAX Northern Illinois, tells GlobeSt.com.
Several factors have caused the shortage, and it will perhaps just take time for those conditions to improve. Housing prices are still off their pre-recession peaks, for example, making some potential sellers reluctant to jump into the market, he says. “That's definitely part of the inventory problem.”
Furthermore, new home production remains off its pre-recession peak, he adds. But developers in some areas are now doing very well, pushing up home sales. In McHenry County, for example, 576 homes were sold in August, a 21% boost over August 2015. “There is a lot of new housing in McHenry County, and that is fueling much of the growth.”
Kreider also notes that the Chicago-area market continues to make progress working through its backlog of distressed homes. In August, distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, represented 12.2% of the all home sales. Two years earlier, distressed sales accounted for 20.4% of the total.
August home sales rose in all seven metro counties and in Chicago when compared to last August. Cook County accounted for 55% of all sales, and sales there gained 7% while the median sales price climbed 3% to $235,000. In Chicago, sales rose 4%, and the median sales price gained 1%.
As for the six suburban counties, in addition to the big boost in McHenry, sales rose 11% in DuPage, 12% in Kane, 4% in Kendall, 9% in Lake, and 2% in Will. The median sales price gained 5% in DuPage and Kane, 12% in Kendall, 16% in McHenry and 13% in Will but fell 1% in Lake.
And there are at least some signs that the problem of low inventory will eventually dissipate. The number of new home sales in July, for example, was about 12% higher than in July 2015, Kreider says.
RE/MAX based its analysis on home sales data collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service.
CHICAGO—Home buyers in the seven-county metro Chicago real estate market took a breather in July, but last month they made up for that slowdown. August home sales totaled 11,802, according to RE/MAX, up 8% from the 10,900 homes sold in August 2015. Sales had declined 7% in July.
The median sales price also increased, reaching $231,806, 5% higher than during the prior August. And the average time required for a home sold in August to find a buyer was 76 days, three days more than in July of this year but the lowest August figure since 2005 at the peak of the housing boom.
However, a relative shortage of inventory continues to be an issue for the Chicago region, and helps explain why home buyers move so quickly these days. “The inventory of homes for sale was 10% lower at the end of August than it had been a year earlier,” Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of Elgin, IL-based RE/MAX Northern Illinois, tells GlobeSt.com.
Several factors have caused the shortage, and it will perhaps just take time for those conditions to improve. Housing prices are still off their pre-recession peaks, for example, making some potential sellers reluctant to jump into the market, he says. “That's definitely part of the inventory problem.”
Furthermore, new home production remains off its pre-recession peak, he adds. But developers in some areas are now doing very well, pushing up home sales. In McHenry County, for example, 576 homes were sold in August, a 21% boost over August 2015. “There is a lot of new housing in McHenry County, and that is fueling much of the growth.”
Kreider also notes that the Chicago-area market continues to make progress working through its backlog of distressed homes. In August, distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, represented 12.2% of the all home sales. Two years earlier, distressed sales accounted for 20.4% of the total.
August home sales rose in all seven metro counties and in Chicago when compared to last August. Cook County accounted for 55% of all sales, and sales there gained 7% while the median sales price climbed 3% to $235,000. In Chicago, sales rose 4%, and the median sales price gained 1%.
As for the six suburban counties, in addition to the big boost in McHenry, sales rose 11% in DuPage, 12% in Kane, 4% in Kendall, 9% in Lake, and 2% in Will. The median sales price gained 5% in DuPage and Kane, 12% in Kendall, 16% in McHenry and 13% in Will but fell 1% in Lake.
And there are at least some signs that the problem of low inventory will eventually dissipate. The number of new home sales in July, for example, was about 12% higher than in July 2015, Kreider says.
RE/MAX based its analysis on home sales data collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
