CHICAGO—Homes sales in the Chicago region have recovered from the slowdown seen last year. Rivaling numbers not seen since before the recession, RE/MAX Northern Illinois reports that in June 2015 it posted its highest monthly closed-sales-volume numbers for the region since 2007. June ended with over $1.06 billion sold; marking the first time monthly sales eclipsed the 10-figure mark in eight years.

RE/MAX Northern Illinois' officials say that they are 15% ahead of 2014's sales figures, a total of nearly half a billion dollars in closed sales volume. The year to date has also seen the company post a 17.5% increase in completed transactions.

“The continued strengthening of the market across northern Illinois is benefiting both buyers and sellers,” says Jim Merrion, regional director of the Elgin, IL-based RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network. “Home values have increased, and mortgage rates have remained low, allowing both parties to take advantage of the current market conditions.”

Statewide home sales in June totaled 17,972 homes sold, up 12.5% from June 2014 when 15,982 homes sold, according to Illinois Association of REALTORS®. Prices have also surged. The statewide median price in June rose to $194,243, an 8.5% gain over June 2014's median of $179,000.

“Sellers keep reaping the rewards of a market that has continued to see median prices edge higher every month this year,” says Jim Kinney, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and vice president for luxury sales at Baird & Warner in Chicago. “A decrease in the number of days it takes on average to sell a home in Illinois shows that buyers are undeterred by the steady upward tick in prices.”

“The burst in sales growth last month was unexpected,” adds Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Prices, however, are growing more modestly yet strongly. The foreclosure inventory seems to be playing a diminishing role in terms of both sales and prices with significant declines in the shares of sales accounted for by foreclosed properties in recent months.”

In reaching the billion-dollar mark for June, the RE/MAX Northern Illinois network completed 700 more transactions than in June 2014, closing a total of 4,694 transactions for the month.