Illinois home prices surge 13.1 percent in February
Illinois home prices continued to strengthen as the statewide median price experienced a double-digit annual gain in February, marking 30 consecutive months of year-over-year price increases, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
Statewide home sales, which include single-family homes and condominiums), totaled 7,865 homes sold in February, down 1.7 percent from the same month a year ago when 8,004 homes sold.
The statewide median price in February rose to $149,900, a 13.1 percent gain over February 2014's statewide median price of $132,500. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
"Sellers should definitely be motivated by this market," said Jim Kinney, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors and vice president for luxury sales at Baird & Warner in Chicago. "The lower inventories and relatively short time it takes to sell a home are indicators that the housing market is quite robust entering into the busy spring season."
Lower housing inventory remains a factor in the market with 59,042 homes available for sale, a 4.8 percent decline compared to February last year. The time it took to sell a home in February was slightly higher at 91 days compared to 88 a year ago.
In the nine-county Chicago-area region, home sales in February totaled 5,611 homes, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the 5,683 sales the same month a year ago. The median price in the Chicago region was $175,000, up 12.5 percent over $155,600 in February 2014.
The Chicago area includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central U.S. Region, which includes Chicago, was 3.68 percent in February, up from 3.66 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In February 2014, the mortgage rate averaged 4.32 percent.
"Spring has come earlier than the weather to the housing market with solid gains in prices even with slight declines in monthly and year-over-year sales," said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. "Homebuyers seem to be differentiating between regular and foreclosed homes for sale with the former gaining increasing shares of sales over the last year and thus propelling the increase in median prices in both Illinois and Chicago."
According to the data, 35 out of 102 Illinois counties reporting recorded sales gains for February over previous-year numbers, including Tazewell County, up 32.1 percent with 103 units sold; and Lake County, up 4.0 percent with 497 units sold. Fifty counties recorded median price gains in February over previous-year numbers, including Champaign County, up 27.6 percent to $157,000; DeKalb County, up 27.1 percent to $144,950; and Cook County, up 13.2 percent to $172,000.
The city of Chicago saw sales of 1,448 homes in February, up 3.9 percent from last year. The median price of a home in Chicago was $212,000, up 21.1 percent over February 2014.
"Chicago's spring buying season is starting strong. In a sign of buyer confidence, year-over-year city sales increased for the first time since last summer despite the low inventory," said Hugh Rider, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and co-president of Realty & Mortgage Co. "This is welcome news for potential sellers who might have been tepid about putting their home on the market. Homeowners also can be motivated by median sales prices that continue to top last year's."
Sales and price information is generated by Multiple Listing Service by 31 participating Illinois Realtor local boards and associations, including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. Read Illinois housing stats, data and the University of Illinois REAL forecast at www.illinoisrealtor.org/marketstats.