CHICAGO—The Chicago area's low inventory of single-family homes for sale shows no sign of change. A limited supply of property listings in August caused total sales fall 2.5% from August 2016 to 11,505 units, according to a study by RE/MAX. But the competition over that limited supply also pushed up the median sales price by 3.5% to $240,000.

The inventory of homes for sale was down 7.8% to 34,619 units, the company also found. And a good sign that the demand for new homes is running ahead of the supply has been the rapid pace of sales. Residences sold in August had been one the market for an average of just 66 days before selling, down from 76 days a year earlier. That matched July's average, the lowest market time for any month since RE/MAX began tracking it in 2005.

“The inventory situation doesn't appear to be improving yet,” says Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois. “As was the case in July, the August inventory decline was most pronounced among detached homes. Those listings dropped 8.7%, while listing of attached homes fell 5.1%.”