The suburban market drove much of the increase in home sales and prices. Although 1,363 Chicago homes were sold last month, just a 1.1% year-over-year boost, in the nine-county metro area sales in January totaled 6,018, a 4.8% increase from last January. Suburban DuPage, with 762 units sold, saw a 27.6% year-over-year gain.

Likewise, the median Chicago home price in January was $230,000, up 4.5% compared to January 2015 when it was $220,000, but the metro area as a whole saw a 9.1% jump, from $175,100 to $191,000.

“With Illinois ending 2015 with a net job loss for the first time since 2009, there is some concern about when this begins to affect the housing market,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Nationally, consumers seem more optimistic about selling a house than buying one; with the continuing budget impasse in Springfield, concerns about job retention are likely to dampen housing demand. The first quarter of 2016 should provide a key to the impact of the state's economy on the housing market.”

“The Chicago market is seeing sustained, steady increases in both sales and prices,” says Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president for governmental relations for the Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. “To have a January with strong results bodes well for the spring selling season when interest in the housing market typically increases.”

CHICAGO—In the strongest January market in several years, Illinois home sales and median prices posted robust year-over-year increases, despite lower inventory levels, according to the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. It was the 41^st straight month that year-over-year prices increased.

Statewide home sales in January 2016 totaled 8,247 homes sold, up 3% from 8,003 in January 2015. The last time January home sales were higher was in 2013, when 8,654 homes sold. The statewide median price in January was $164,000, up 9.3% from last January's median of $150,000.

“The year appears to be getting off to a strong start, in no small part due to a mild winter,” says IAR president Mike Drews, broker-associate with Charles B. Doss & Co. in suburban Aurora. “Sellers are getting very good overall prices due to diminished inventories. The strong consumer demand which was evident throughout 2015 seems to be holding firm as we start off 2016.”

Available housing inventory has seen a big drop. Last month, owners had 55,447 homes up for sale, a 12.6% decline from last January when 63,461 homes were on the market, the association found. And the time it took to sell a home in January averaged 79 days, down from 83 days a year ago.

The suburban market drove much of the increase in home sales and prices. Although 1,363 Chicago homes were sold last month, just a 1.1% year-over-year boost, in the nine-county metro area sales in January totaled 6,018, a 4.8% increase from last January. Suburban DuPage, with 762 units sold, saw a 27.6% year-over-year gain.

Likewise, the median Chicago home price in January was $230,000, up 4.5% compared to January 2015 when it was $220,000, but the metro area as a whole saw a 9.1% jump, from $175,100 to $191,000.

“With Illinois ending 2015 with a net job loss for the first time since 2009, there is some concern about when this begins to affect the housing market,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “Nationally, consumers seem more optimistic about selling a house than buying one; with the continuing budget impasse in Springfield, concerns about job retention are likely to dampen housing demand. The first quarter of 2016 should provide a key to the impact of the state's economy on the housing market.”

“The Chicago market is seeing sustained, steady increases in both sales and prices,” says Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president for governmental relations for the Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. “To have a January with strong results bodes well for the spring selling season when interest in the housing market typically increases.”