Summer Housing Market In Full Swing

CHICAGO—The summer housing market is in full swing with homes selling quickly and at higher prices in May even as tight inventory drove sales slightly lower for the month, according to Illinois REALTORS®.

Statewide home sales in May 2018 totaled 16,937 homes sold, down 2.7% from 17,401 in May 2017. The statewide median price in May was $215,000, up 3.4% from May 2017, when the median price was $208,000.

“Median prices showed a healthy, sustainable uptick in May, giving property owners an opportunity to continue to gain a return on their investment while at the same time allowing consumers a solid shot at getting into a home,” says Matt Difanis, president of the statewide association and broker-owner of RE/MAX Realty Associates in Champaign. “The overall trend of decreasing inventories is unabated, so it’s likely this market dynamic will continue to place upward pressure on home prices through the summer.”

The time it took to sell a home in May averaged 49 days, down from 52 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 55,126 homes for sale, a 7.6% decline from May 2017 when there were 59,644 homes on the market.

In the nine-county Chicago metro area, home sales in May totaled 12,384 homes sold, down 2.5% from May 2017 sales of 12,706 homes. The median price in May 2018 was $255,000 in the Chicago area, an increase of 3.3% from $246,910 in May 2017.

“While month-to-month sales in the last quarter recorded solid gains, the sales volumes were slightly lower than a year ago,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “The continued expansion of the economy has certainly helped sustain the housing recovery although rising interest rates and uncertainty about the impact of the current trade war may dampen growth in the rest of 2018.”

According to the data, thirty-four IL counties reported sales gains for May 2018 over previous-year numbers. In the Chicago area, Will County prices were up 7.0% to $233,000, but Cook was mostly stagnant with a 0.8% increase to $260,000.

The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decrease 2.2% with 2,978 sales in May, compared to 3,046 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in May 2018 was $306,000 up just 0.1% compared to May 2017 when it was $305,600.

“Buyers are feeling the pressure to move quickly, with shorter market times and fewer homes to choose from,” says Rebecca Thomson, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and principal of Thomson Real Estate Group. “For sellers, it’s all about positioning. With prices holding steady, sellers need to price it right from the beginning.”

All sales and price information was generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 27 participating Illinois REALTOR^® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of June 7, 2018 for the period May 1 through May 31, 2018. T