Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois sees numbers rise
From Illinois Business Journal news services
BELLEVILLE – The Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois says St. Clair, Monroe, Clinton and Randolph counties reported an increase in year-to-date home sales in September 2015 compared to September 2014. The report was released at the end of October.
Realtors in the Metro East continued to see an increase in homes sales in September 2015 over September 2014. Realtors in Clinton County recorded a 104.5 percent increase in home sales. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, this increase is along the lines of statewide increases in home sales. IAR stated that home sales in Illinois increased 5.6 percent this September compared to September of last year.
Continuing the trend from previous months this year, the Metro-East reported an increase in year-to-date home sales last month. Agents in St. Clair County sold 10.4 percent more homes year-to-date this September compared to September 2014. Following St. Clair County’s suit, Monroe County recorded a 17.9 percent increase, while Randolph County reported a 6.7 percent increase.
In Clinton County, there were sold 12.4 percent more homes year-to-date in September 2015 over September 2014. St. Clair, Monroe, and Clinton Counties have sold a record number of homes so far this year. Year-to-date in September 2015, all three Counties reported the highest number of homes sold compared to the year-to-date figures from last five Septembers.
“The Metro-East housing market has a lot of encouraging trends going on right now,” said Doug Payne, president of the Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois. “We are hopeful that these trends will continue throughout the rest of 2015. Experts, such as the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, stated that forecasts are anticipated to see positive year-over-year growth as well as moderate growth in home prices for October, November, and December of this year. The National Association of Realtors latest Housing Pulse Survey also indicated that the majority of Americans surveyed believe that buying a home is a good financial decision, and 68 percent said that now is a good time to buy a home.”
On another positive note, median home prices in the Metro East are also on the rise. Compared to September 2014, Randolph County reported a 8.7 percent increase in median home price for September 2015. REALTORS® in Clinton County reported an increase of 14.6 percent in median home price compared to last year.
The housing statistics are as follows:
