Buyer confidence is slowly beginning to recoup in Chicago and the rest of the Midwest, due to a recent deluge of good news in the real estate market in those areas. According to several newly released housing market analyses, home and condo sales have continued to rise steadily in the Chicago area. In the month of September, existing single-family homes and condominiums in Chicago posted yet another impressive year-over-year sales gain. This positive growth is partially credited to the relatively low prices, which are down from last year.
While median price of homes and condos in the Chicago area may have dipped in September (from $175,000 to $160,000), home sales in the nine-county Chicagoland area increased year-over-year by an overall 13.3 percent rise (to 6,035 homes sold for the month).
Each of the Chicago area’s nine counties witnessed varying degrees of sales volume gains in the month of September. McHenry County posted the most impressive numbers—a shocking 40 percent increase in home sales—while on the lower end of the spectrum, Lake County experienced a respectable 2 percent increase. The boost in residential real estate purchases may have been influenced by the decline in median prices that occurred in every Chicago-area county that month.
The city of Chicago itself saw impressive gains both in the home/condo sales front and in median home prices. Within the city limits, sales of all properties rose 6.8 percent in September—to 1,498 homes sold overall. The median price of homes rose by 5.6 percent, to $190,000. The sale of condominiums in the city of Chicago increased by a healthy 6.5 percent (to 855 units sold), though the condo market did experience an overall slippage in median price.
The inventory of Chicago condos for sale is still vast throughout the city, especially in neighborhoods that were popular during the building boom earlier this decade. These new construction properties are among those vying for buyer attention. There is also a sizeable number of foreclosures and REO units that are on the market today. As properties repossessed by the bank, these homes can be bought for pennies on the dollar. That creates tough competition for conventional homeowners, though, who are trying to sell their houses, condos and townhomes for the most return on investment possible.
