November 22, 2011 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing homes and condominiums in Illinois declined as expected in October but were still far higher than a year ago according to the latest data from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR).
An estimated total of 8,536 existing homes and condos were sold in the Land of Lincoln in October. That was 7.0 percent lower than the 9,182 homes sold in September but 15.3 percent higher than the 7,402 homes sold in October 2010.
The median sales price for a home in Illinois declined 5.0 percent to $130,000 in October from $136,850 in September and was 10.3 percent lower than the median price of $145,000 in October of 2010.
“Foreclosure and short sale inventories are working though the market, and buyers in the market are favoring lower-priced homes with close to 70 percent of homes sold in October priced below $200,000 statewide,” said REALTOR® Loretta Alonzo, CRB, GRI, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and broker-owner of Century 21 Alonzo & Associates in La Grange Park. “The best prescription for the housing market is a robust economy that creates jobs and improves consumer confidence combined with removing over-reaching barriers to home financing that turn away some qualified buyers who want to make a move at this opportune time.”
Forty-seven of the 100 counties that reported data posted higher home sales than a year ago while 46 of the counties posted an increase in their annual median sales price.
Year-over-year home prices were up 18.2 percent in Boone County, 40.3 percent in Coles County, 7.1 percent in Iroquois County, 9.0 percent in Macon County, 9.8 percent in Ogle County, 8.9 percent in Whiteside County and 18.8 percent in Woodford County.
In the nine-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), sales of existing homes and condos totaled 5,778 homes in October, down 4.3 percent from 6,035 homes sold in September but up 23.7 percent from 4,670 homes sold in October of 2010.
The median price in the Chicago MSA was $149,900 in October, down 6.3 percent from a median price of $160,000 in September and down 15.3 percent compared to last year in October when it was $177,000.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Illinois
