The time it took to sell a home in December averaged 66 days, down from 74 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 50,213 homes for sale, a 15.7% decline from December 2015 when there were 59,559 homes on the market.

Interest rates have ticked up in the past year. The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.20% in December 2016, an increase from 3.77% the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In December 2015 it averaged 3.95%.

In the nine-county Chicago metro area, home sales in December 2016 totaled 8,132 homes sold, down 3.6% from December 2015. Year-end 2016 home sales totaled 116,500, up 4.3% from 111,700 homes sold in the region in 2015.

The median price in December 2016 was $215,000 in the Chicago metro area, an increase of 8.3% from $198,500 in December 2015. The year-end 2016 median price reached $222,500, up 6.0% from $210,000 in 2015.

“Consumers appear to be waiting to see what the new President and Congress plan for the economy,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “As a result, it may be several months before there is an appreciable impact on the housing market. Prices and sales are expected to continue experiencing modest gains over the first quarter.”

“The predominant trends that we've witnessed over the past few months continued into the winter break, and the market behaved exactly as we'd expect,” says Matt Silver, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and partner at Urban Real Estate. “The increase in rates coupled with a significant reduction in inventory due to the holidays, are helping to drive prices up as buyers get serious about purchasing a new home. In January, the homes that were pulled off the market for the holidays will return, and the busy season should begin in earnest.”

CHICAGO—After one of the most active Novembers in recent history, statewide home sales dipped in December, but both sales and median prices finished in positive territory in 2016, closing out a year marked by tight housing inventories and continued strong consumer demand, according to Illinois REALTORS®.

Statewide home sales in December 2016 totaled 11,629 homes sold, down 2.8% from December 2015. Year-end 2016 home sales totaled 162,380, up 3.9% from 156,239 in 2015.

The statewide median price in December was $174,900, up 6.0% from December 2015 when the median price was $165,000. The year-end 2016 median price reached $184,000, up 6.4% from $173,000 in 2015.

“Home sales numbers likely would have been stronger in 2016 had there simply been enough inventory to satisfy demand,” says Doug Carpenter, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell in Orland Hills and Illinois REALTORS® president. “That said, Illinois home sellers are finding in many cases they can get a premium price and that they are able to sell their homes quickly, a trend we see extending in to 2017.”

The time it took to sell a home in December averaged 66 days, down from 74 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 50,213 homes for sale, a 15.7% decline from December 2015 when there were 59,559 homes on the market.

Interest rates have ticked up in the past year. The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.20% in December 2016, an increase from 3.77% the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In December 2015 it averaged 3.95%.

In the nine-county Chicago metro area, home sales in December 2016 totaled 8,132 homes sold, down 3.6% from December 2015. Year-end 2016 home sales totaled 116,500, up 4.3% from 111,700 homes sold in the region in 2015.

The median price in December 2016 was $215,000 in the Chicago metro area, an increase of 8.3% from $198,500 in December 2015. The year-end 2016 median price reached $222,500, up 6.0% from $210,000 in 2015.

“Consumers appear to be waiting to see what the new President and Congress plan for the economy,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “As a result, it may be several months before there is an appreciable impact on the housing market. Prices and sales are expected to continue experiencing modest gains over the first quarter.”

“The predominant trends that we've witnessed over the past few months continued into the winter break, and the market behaved exactly as we'd expect,” says Matt Silver, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and partner at Urban Real Estate. “The increase in rates coupled with a significant reduction in inventory due to the holidays, are helping to drive prices up as buyers get serious about purchasing a new home. In January, the homes that were pulled off the market for the holidays will return, and the busy season should begin in earnest.”