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The effects of COVID-19 and the statewide stay-at-home order were felt in April, with a decline in Illinois home sales and inventory while median prices continued to post positive year-over-year gains, data from Illinois REALTORS® shows.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in April totaled 12,108 homes sold, down 14.4 percent from 14,145 in April 2019.
The statewide median price in April was $227,500, up 6.8 percent from April 2019, when the median price was $213,000. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“April marked the first full month of Illinois residents adjusting to COVID-19 restrictions and it may have prompted some to temporarily press pause, driving sales and inventory lower for the month,” said Ed Neaves, president of Illinois REALTORS® and designated managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. “But median prices remained strong and the homes that were on the market sold quickly, signaling ongoing buyer demand.”
The time it took to sell a home in April averaged 53 days, a decrease of 1.9 percent from the year before. Available inventory totaled 45,848 homes for sale, an 18.2 percent decline from 56,024 homes in April 2019.
According to the data, home sales in the Champaign-Urbana MSA (Champaign, Piatt and Ford counties) totaled 264 units, an 8.2 percent increase while the median price was up 7.4 percent to $156,000; home sales in the Peoria MSA (Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell and Woodford counties) totaled 431, a 0.9 percent decrease while the median price increased 9.6 percent to $126,000.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 3.31 percent in April a decrease from 3.45 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In April 2019, it averaged 4.14 percent.
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in April totaled 8,580, down 16.1 percent from April 2019 sales of 10,226 homes. The median price in April was $270,000 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 6.7 percent from $253,000 in April 2019.
“The impact of the precipitous decline in employment is beginning to make its way into the housing market” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “However, many analysts believe that while sales will decline, prices may remain sticky at least for the next several months. Consumer indices already reflect the heightened uncertainty about the labor market, and this will no doubt dampen both additions to the housing inventory as well as housing demand.”
The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decrease 22.2 percent with 2,018 sales in April, compared to 2,595 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in April was $339,450 up 9.5 percent compared to April 2019 when it was $310,000.
“We’re beginning to see a fuller picture of COVID-19’s effect on the housing market,” said Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty. “While closed sales are down 22.2 percent, demand is still there—although constrained by inventory—as the median sales price ticked up and days on the market declined. While the process may have changed, the need to transact real estate hasn’t with 2,018 closed sales in the city of Chicago last month.”
Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 26 participating Illinois REALTORS® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of May 7, 2020 for the period April 1 through April 30, 2020. 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.
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.
Find Illinois housing stats, data and the University of Illinois REAL forecast at www.IllinoisRealtors.org/MarketStats.
