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December year-over-year home sales and annual closed sales dropped in Illinois after another month of tight available housing inventory, according to data from Illinois REALTORS®.
In December 2023, statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) of 9,174 homes sold was 6.1 percent lower than 9,772 sold in December 2022. In December there were only 17,291 homes for sale statewide, a 22.7 percent decrease from 22,369 homes on the market in December 2022. Also, the monthly median price of $255,000 in December 2023 was 8.5 percent higher than it was the year before at $235,000.
Annual closed sales of 132,120 in 2023 were 18.3 percent lower than 161,695 homes sold in 2022. The annual median price of $269,000 in 2023 was 3.5 percent greater than the median price of $260,000 in 2022. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“With the lowering of interest rates and the hold on rate hikes, the continued potential for decreases as the year progresses, we are cautiously optimistic and look forward to serving all the prospective buyers and sellers right now to help them make the best decisions for their ability to grasp the American Dream of homeownership,” says Matt Silver, Illinois REALTORS® 2024 President and partner and senior broker for Corcoran Urban Real Estate in Chicago. “We are also continuing to work with state and local elected officials to make direly needed investments in maintaining existing homes and the construction of new housing at all pricing levels.”
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, December 2023 home sales (single-family and condominiums) totaled 6,013 homes sold, down 6.8 percent from December 2022 sales of 6,455 homes. In December 2023, there were only 11,266 homes for sale in the Chicago Metro Area, a 27.1 percent decrease from 15,462 homes on the market in December 2022. The median price of a home in the Chicago Metro Area in December 2023 was $307,000, up 7.0 percent from $287,000 in December 2022.
Annual home sales in the Chicago Metro Area totaled 89,482, down 20.1 percent from 112,055 homes sold in the area during 2022. The 2023 annual median price of a home in the Chicago Metro Area was $324,900, up 4.6 percent from $310,500 in 2022.
“Although the housing market is continuing its trend of low sales and relatively high prices, our forecast is that sales will increase over the next three months,” said Dr. Daniel McMillen, professor of real estate and associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Business Administration. “Consumer confidence has increased significantly as interest rates and the rate of inflation have declined.”
The city of Chicago saw a 1.6 percent year-over-year home sales increase in December 2023 with 1,470 sales, up from 1,447 in December 2022. In December 2023, there were only 4,171 homes for sale in the city of Chicago, a 27.3 percent decrease from 5,739 homes on the market in December 2022. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in December 2023 was $310,000, up 7.8 percent in December 2022 when it was $287,500.
Annual home sales in the city of Chicago totaled 22,400 in 2023, down 20.9 percent from 28,306 in 2022. The 2023 annual median price of a home in the city of Chicago was $330,000, down 1.5 percent from $335,000 in 2022.
“Steady closed sales and an increase in median sales price in December shows a commitment from buyers to purchase,” said Drussy Hernandez, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and vice president of brokerage services for Coldwell Banker Realty in Chicago. “With the anticipation of lower interest rates, we hope to see this increased activity continue into 2024.”
Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 22 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of Jan. 7, 2023, for the period Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, 2023. The Chicago Metro Area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. (Note: Due to a recent multiple listing service transition, data and approximately 100 sales from the Central Illinois Board of REALTORS® are not included in the December report.)
Based on the Freddie Mac data, the monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.82 percent in December 2023, down from the previous month of 7.44 percent. The December 2022 average was 6.36 percent.
Find Illinois housing stats, data and the January 2024 forecast from the Stuart Handler Department of Real Estate at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Business Administration at http://www.illinoisrealtors.org/marketstats/.
Illinois REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose more than 50,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, Illinois REALTORS® works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation to safeguard and advance the interest of real property ownership.
