Illinois housing market sees jump in home sales, prices

The Illinois Realtors said this week that statewide home sales in March 2017 totaled 13,074 homes sold, up 9.6 percent from 12.116 in March of 2016.

The statewide median price in March was $189,900, up 10.7 percent from March 2016 when the median price was $171,500.

“Consumers this spring have no choice but to be nimble as they find fewer homes on the market and increased competition for those homes,” said Illinois Realtors President Doug Carpenter of Mokena managing broker of Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell in Orland Hills. “Many of the Realtors I talk to are reporting an increase in multiple offer situations, which means buyers can’t dawdle when they find what they want and they may want to make sure any offer they bring is an aggressive one.”

The time it took to sell a home in March averaged 67 days statewide, down from 77 days a year ago.

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.20 percent in March 2017, an increase from the 4.17 percent the previous month and up from 3.70 percent in March 2016.

“In inflation adjusted terms, both the Illinois and Chicago housing markets have recovered to their pre-recession levels” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois. “The consumer indices still reflect a positive outlook on the economy although the Home Purchase Sentiment Index declined, reflecting some elevated concerns about job security.”

 – From the Illinois Business Journal