CHICAGO, IL- The state's residential housing market continues to improve, although there were fewer homes sold in February than in January. The Illinois Association of REALTORS® announced yesterday that a total of 8,213 homes were sold in February, an increase of 16.2 percent over the previous February. A total of 8,502 homes were sold in January. Furthermore, the median price for homes remained $125,000, the same as January, but up 5.1 percent from the previous February.
“The first two months of the year are typically slower in the real estate business, but so far we've seen an encouraging number of sales,” says Michael D. Oldenettel, president of the association and managing broker and owner with RE/MAX Results Plus in Jacksonville, IL.
Buyers and sellers in most regions were more active. In the nine counties that comprise the Chicago metropolitan area, for example, a total of 5,935 homes were sold, an increase of 20.2 percent over the previous February. And city of Chicago homebuyers closed on 1,378 homes, an increase of 10.2 percent.
Foreclosures, however, remain a concern.
“The bumpy recovery of the housing market continues,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Sales continue to experience year-over-year gains and the number of foreclosed property sales continues to exceed new additions to this part of the economy.”
According to RealtyTrac Inc.'s monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, Illinois posted the nation's third highest state foreclosure rate for the second month in a row despite the third straight month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity. Still, even though a total of 12,671 Illinois properties had a foreclosure filing in February that was down 10 percent from the previous month and down 5 percent from February 2012.
The median price of a Chicago home last month was $158,000, up 12.9 percent from February 2012. Condo prices also increased 21.2 percent to $200,000.
"Our clients are hopeful about the consistently strong market indicators,” says Zeke Morris, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and operating principal and managing broker of Keller Williams Realty, CCG. “The current market renewal leaves no question about Chicagoans' continued desire for homeownership. What's critical is that lenders more actively foster loan product for buyers across the financial spectrum.”
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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.
