Many buyers sped up their moves to make the April tax credit deadline leaving a widely anticipated vacuum of activity for July home sales in Illinois.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS®  July housing market report issued today shows a housing market on hold through the summer months but—after nearly a full year of home sales gains statewide—still ahead 15.0 percent year-to-date January through July 2010 compared to the same period a year ago. The year-to-date median price is off -0.9 percent to $155,000 from $156,330 in 2009.

Jobs and foreclosures are the major underlying issues, and we likely won’t see improvements in the housing market outlook without stronger signals from the economy.

Said University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoff Hewings in his forecast: “The hangover from the expiration of the tax credit in April may extend into fall with forecasts for sales on an annual basis for the next three months indicating a continuation of the July experience.”

Meanwhile, excellent buyer market conditions remain with interest rates at record lows, more affordable home prices and many options for the home buyer.

Here are more observations from the July IAR housing market report:

• Statewide home sales were down 29.7% in July after 10 months of consecutive sales gains; the median price was down 4.3% to $160,000
• For the Chicagoland PMSA*, July sales were down 25.1% after 12 months of consecutive sales gains; the median price was down 9.6% to $193,000
• Year-to-date sales for the Chicagoland region remain up 22.8% January through July 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
• The year-to-date median price for Chicagoland is down 5.1% to $189,900 from the same period in 2009

* The Chicagland PMSA region in this report includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.