The hot weather in Illinois this summer isn’t stopping homebuyers from staying active in the market. According to the Illinois Realtors, the median home price throughout the state increased 5.8 percent annually in June, and homes are selling at a faster pace.
The state is looking more like a sellers market with a diminished supply of properties for buyers to sift through. Homes were listed for an average 55 days in June, lower than the 62 days on market seen the prior year.
Inventory took a big fall in June, when there was a pool of 64,724 homes for sale in the state — a 15.1 percent decline year-over-year. The high demand and low supply is pushing up home prices throughout the state, which saw a 7.3 percent gain in year-to-date median price, to $183,174.
Throughout the state, 42 counties reported a year-over-year gain in home sales, and 48 counties saw an increase in median price. Tazewell County and McHenry County increased significantly, with a respective uptick of 26.1 percent and 16 percent.
In the Chicagoland area— the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) — home sales increased 2.1 percent annually in June, while the median price for a home in the area grew 4.6 percent to $242,500.
Chicago housing market slower to move
In the city of Chicago, home sales increased 0.2 percent in June 2016, representing 3,210 sales. Home prices rose during the time period as well, by 4.1 percent.
“Chicago homebuyers are having to work harder to find properties which meet their criteria and budget,” said Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors. “A combination of low mortgage rates and a limited number of properties on the market is pushing median prices higher, a continuation of a trend we have seen for much of the warm-weather selling season.”
