September 5, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums slowed in Illinois during July but remained firmly above year-ago levels according to the latest data from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) while home prices couldn’t keep pace, falling both monthly and yearly.
An estimated total of 12,355 existing homes and condos were sold in the Land of Lincoln in July. Home sales were 5.8 percent lower than the 13,111 homes sold in June but were 25.5 percent higher than the 9,846 homes sold in July 2011.
The median sales price for an existing home in Illinois fell 4.5 percent to $148,000 from $155,000 in June and was down 1.7 percent from July of last year. July’s price decline follows two consecutive months of year-over-year increases which were preceded by 23 months of declines.
Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®, stated, “The sales momentum we saw building in the first six months of 2012 is continuing into the latter half of the year. Low interest rates and home prices will give the market a foundation for continued strengthening.”
Sixty-two of the 101 counties that reported data posted higher home sales than a year ago, five more than the previous month, while 50 of the counties posted an increase in their annual median sales price, down from 53 last month.
In the nine-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), sales of existing homes and condos totaled 8,551 in July, down 6.6 percent from 9,156 homes sold in June but up 29.1 percent from the 6,624 homes sold in July of 2011.
The median sales price for a home in the Chicago MSA was $172,000 in July, down 6.0 percent from a median price of $183,000 in June and down 5.9 percent compared to July of last year when the median sales price was $182,700. July’s price decline in the Chicago MSA follows two consecutive months of year-over-year increases which had been preceded by 49 months of declines.
Tags: Illinois real estate, existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Illinois
