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The summer housing market is in full swing with homes selling quickly and at higher prices in May even as tight inventory drove sales slightly lower for the month, according to Illinois REALTORS®.
Statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) in May 2018 totaled 16,937 homes sold, down 2.7 percent from 17,401 in May 2017.
The statewide median price in May was $215,000, up 3.4 percent from May 2017, when the median price was $208,000. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
“Median prices showed a healthy, sustainable uptick in May, giving property owners an opportunity to continue to gain a return on their investment while at the same time allowing consumers a solid shot at getting into a home,” said Illinois REALTORS® President Matt Difanis, ABR, CIPS, GRI, broker-owner of RE/MAX Realty Associates in Champaign. “The overall trend of decreasing inventories is unabated, so it’s likely this market dynamic will continue to place upward pressure on home prices through the summer.”
The time it took to sell a home in May averaged 49 days, down from 52 days a year ago. Available housing inventory totaled 55,126 homes for sale, a 7.6 percent decline from May 2017 when there were 59,644 homes on the market.
According to the data, home sales in the Carbondale-Marion MSA (Jackson and Williamson counties) totaled 105 units, a 5.0 percent increase while the median price was up 23.0 percent to $121,500; in the Champaign-Urbana MSA (Champaign, Piatt and Ford counties) sales increased 6.0 percent to 334 units sold and the median price rose 4.7 percent to $156,950; and in the Metro East MSA Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties) sales were up 6.8 percent to 847 units sold and the median price climbed 5.7 percent to $140,000.
The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.60 percent in May 2018, an increase from 4.47 percent the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. In May 2017, it averaged 4.01 percent.
In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales (single-family and condominiums) in May 2018 totaled 12,384 homes sold, down 2.5 percent from May 2017 sales of 12,706 homes. The median price in May 2018 was $255,000 in the Chicago Metro Area, an increase of 3.3 percent from $246,910 in May 2017.
“While month-to-month sales in the last quarter recorded solid gains, the sales volumes were slightly lower than a year ago,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “The continued expansion of the economy has certainly helped sustain the housing recovery although rising interest rates and uncertainty about the impact of the current trade war may dampen growth in the rest of 2018.”
According to the data, thirty-four (34) Illinois counties reported sales gains for May 2018 over previous-year numbers, including DeKalb County, up 21.7 percent with 185 units sold; Champaign County, up 6.1 percent with 294 units sold; and Madison County, up 5.1 percent with 351 units sold. Fifty-five (55) counties showed year-over-year median price increases including LaSalle County, up 12.2 percent to $115,000; Will County, up 7.0 percent to $233,000; and Cook County, up 0.8 percent to $260,000.
The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decrease 2.2 percent with 2,978 sales in May, compared to 3,046 a year ago. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in May 2018 was $306,000 up 0.1 percent compared to May 2017 when it was $305,600.
“Buyers are feeling the pressure to move quickly, with shorter market times and fewer homes to choose from,” said Rebecca Thomson, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and principal of Thomson Real Estate Group. “For sellers, it’s all about positioning. With prices holding steady, sellers need to price it right from the beginning.”
Sales and price information are generated by Multiple Listing Service closed sales reported by 27 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations including Midwest Real Estate Data LLC data as of June 7, 2018 for the period May 1 through May 31, 2018. 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 47,000 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, the University of Illinois REAL forecast and more at www.illinoisrealtors.org/marketstats.
