CHICAGO—The Illinois housing market accelerated in April with robust home sales and a double-digit year-over-year jump in the statewide median price, according to the Illinois REALTORS®. Statewide home sales totaled 14,189 homes sold, up 8.2% from 13,110 in April 2015. The statewide median price in April was $186,500 up 10.4% from April 2015 when the median price was $169,000. “Spring sales data seems to be showing there's still a lot of strength in the market, as we anticipated at the beginning of the year,” Dan Wagner , president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president for government relations at the Oak Brook, IL-based Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc. , tells GlobeSt.com. “We've had positive growth in median prices which extends back to August 2012,” and the new “numbers reflect that consumer interest in the market is not waning.” The long-term trends of declining inventories and quicker sales also con tinue. The time it took to sell a home in April averaged just 68 days, down from 76 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 60,608 homes for sale, a 14.5% decline from April 2015 when there were 70,921 homes on the market. In the nine-county Chicago metro area, home sales in April totaled 10,216 homes sold, up 9.3% from April 2015 sales of 9,343 homes. The median price in April 2016 was $230,000 in the metro area, up 10.6% from $208,000 in April 2015. “The housing market news for the next three months indicates a continuation of the positive trends in both sales and prices,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings , director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois . “Compared to last month, more people feel it is a good time to sell, but less people feel it is a good time to buy. Overall, consumer sentiment seems little changed with analysts pointing to the lower than expected April job growth as the probable cause.” The city of Chicago saw a 7.9% year-over-year home sales increase in April 2016 with 2,628 sales, up from 2,435 in April 2015. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in April 2016 was $287,500, up 6.0% compared to April 2015 when it was $271,325. In Chicago, “it's taking 47 days on average to sell a home, which is a breathtaking pace and shows why inventories have plummeted once again,” Wagner adds. CHICAGO—The Illinois housing market accelerated in April with robust home sales and a double-digit year-over-year jump in the statewide median price, according to the Illinois REALTORS®. Statewide home sales totaled 14,189 homes sold, up 8.2% from 13,110 in April 2015. The statewide median price in April was $186,500 up 10.4% from April 2015 when the median price was $169,000. “Spring sales data seems to be showing there's still a lot of strength in the market, as we anticipated at the beginning of the year,” Dan Wagner , president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and senior vice president for government relations at the Oak Brook, IL-based Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc. , tells GlobeSt.com. “We've had positive growth in median prices which extends back to August 2012,” and the new “numbers reflect that consumer interest in the market is not waning.” The long-term trends of declining inventories and quicker sales also con tinue. The time it took to sell a home in April averaged just 68 days, down from 76 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 60,608 homes for sale, a 14.5% decline from April 2015 when there were 70,921 homes on the market. In the nine-county Chicago metro area, home sales in April totaled 10,216 homes sold, up 9.3% from April 2015 sales of 9,343 homes. The median price in April 2016 was $230,000 in the metro area, up 10.6% from $208,000 in April 2015. “The housing market news for the next three months indicates a continuation of the positive trends in both sales and prices,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings , director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois . “Compared to last month, more people feel it is a good time to sell, but less people feel it is a good time to buy. Overall, consumer sentiment seems little changed with analysts pointing to the lower than expected April job growth as the probable cause.” The city of Chicago saw a 7.9% year-over-year home sales increase in April 2016 with 2,628 sales, up from 2,435 in April 2015. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in April 2016 was $287,500, up 6.0% compared to April 2015 when it was $271,325. In Chicago, “it's taking 47 days on average to sell a home, which is a breathtaking pace and shows why inventories have plummeted once again,” Wagner adds.