CHICAGO—The seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market saw significant year-over-year gains in home sales during the first half of 2016 despite a limited inventory of homes, according to an analysis by RE/MAX . Metro-area home sales totaled 55,996 during that period, 7% more than the same period last year, and the most for the first half of any year since 2006. Metro Chicago home values also increased in the first half of the year. The median sales price was $225,000, 7% more than the comparable period last year and the highest first-half median price since 2008. “We are in an excellent environment for sellers, with prices trending upward and market times shortening,” says Jack Kreider , executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois . But the inventory of homes for sale at the end of June was only 37,457 units, 10% fewer than in June 2015. The relative shortage of homes was also reflected in the number of days a home spent on the market. In June, average market time for homes sold in the metro area had fallen to 78 days. “We hope the second half of this year will see a noticeable growth in inventory, especially of moderately priced homes, which is the segment of the market in which the supply is the tightest right now,” Kreider adds. One silver lining is the decline in the number of distressed properties for sale. Distressed homes, which include foreclosures and short sales, accounted for just 17% of first-half sales in the metro area, down from 25% last year and 32% two years ago. MRED , the regional multiple listing service, collected the home sales data used for the RE/MAX analysis. It covers homes in the IL counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. CHICAGO—The seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market saw significant year-over-year gains in home sales during the first half of 2016 despite a limited inventory of homes, according to an analysis by RE/MAX . Metro-area home sales totaled 55,996 during that period, 7% more than the same period last year, and the most for the first half of any year since 2006. Metro Chicago home values also increased in the first half of the year. The median sales price was $225,000, 7% more than the comparable period last year and the highest first-half median price since 2008. “We are in an excellent environment for sellers, with prices trending upward and market times shortening,” says Jack Kreider , executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois . But the inventory of homes for sale at the end of June was only 37,457 units, 10% fewer than in June 2015. The relative shortage of homes was also reflected in the number of days a home spent on the market. In June, average market time for homes sold in the metro area had fallen to 78 days. “We hope the second half of this year will see a noticeable growth in inventory, especially of moderately priced homes, which is the segment of the market in which the supply is the tightest right now,” Kreider adds. One silver lining is the decline in the number of distressed properties for sale. Distressed homes, which include foreclosures and short sales, accounted for just 17% of first-half sales in the metro area, down from 25% last year and 32% two years ago. MRED , the regional multiple listing service, collected the home sales data used for the RE/MAX analysis. It covers homes in the IL counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.