May 11, 2005

For Immediate Release

Contact: Mary Schaefer, Ann Londrigan
217/529-2600

Illinois First-Quarter Home Sales Remain Strong; Statewide Median Price at $179,000

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Home sales in Illinois are nearly even with last year’s strong first-quarter housing market. Statewide, sales of single-family homes during January through March were down just 0.9 percent compared to last year at this time, according to the latest report from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. A total of 22,608 single-family homes were sold across the state in the first quarter of 2005, from 22,806 sales in 2004. 

“While some say real estate should be slowing, the numbers tell another story. We still have a very strong housing market in Illinois,” said John Veneris, CRB, CRS, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. “The factors underlying its strength include historically low interest rates and a variety of financing options, plus continued demand. In fact, the Census Bureau recently released figures for U.S. homeownership, which has reached an all-time high of 74.5 million families as well as record rates for minority and Hispanic homeownership. Illinois REALTORS® are working hard to make owning a home a reality for many people.”

The first-quarter interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.81 percent in the North Central Region, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

Countywide MLS sales and median price information is contained in the tables that accompany this news release. Sales data is generated from a survey of 36 local REALTOR® associations throughout the state.

The median price of a single-family home during the first quarter of 2005 was up 9.8 percent to $179,000 compared to $163,000 last year in the same period. Sales gains were reported in 43 of 95 Illinois counties reporting in the first quarter; 65 counties reported an increase in median sales price.

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), sales of existing single-family homes remained relatively flat, down 0.6 percent in the first quarter to 13,847, compared to 13,926 home sales in 2004.

The median price of single-family homes sold in the Chicagoland PMSA increased 8.1 percent to $240,000 in the first quarter of 2005 compared to $222,000 in the same period one year ago. The Chicagoland PMSA includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will, Grundy and Kendall.

Statewide, home prices in the first quarter ranged from $304,000 in DuPage County to $23,000 in Warren County. A sample of the counties in the Chicagoland PMSA that reported year-to-year price appreciation include Cook, up 12.2 percent to $231,200; DeKalb County, up 12.6 percent to $186,950; Kane, up 12.8 percent to $225,500; Kendall, up 10.0 percent to $253,750; Lake, up 2.7 percent to $249,000; McHenry up 5.6 percent to $237,500; and Will, up 8.9 percent to $220,000.

A sample of counties around the state that saw median price increases includes Adams, up 5.6 percent to $75,250; Champaign, up 10.8 percent to $133,000; Jackson, up 5.7 percent to $69,500; Peoria, up 11.0 percent to $90,500; Rock Island, up 12.0 percent to $87,350; St. Clair, up 14.8 percent to $105,000; Sangamon, up 11.5 percent to $99,250; Tazewell, up 11.4 percent to $100,000; and Winnebago, up 19.7 percent to $118,500.

Affordability

The first-quarter 2005 Illinois Housing Affordability Index* stood at 184.75, compared to the index of 199.50 during the first quarter of 2004. The affordability index measures the ability of a typical four-person family to purchase a median-priced single-family residence. For example, the annual index reveals that a family earning the statewide median income (for a four-person family) of $74,576 had 184.75 percent of the income needed to qualify for conventional financing covering 80 percent of a home priced at the median price of $179,000.

IAR’s Housing Affordability Index uses an interest rate based on a composite of closing rates for fixed-rate mortgages on single-family homes as reported by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. The average first-quarter 2005 effective rate for the North Central region, which includes Illinois, was 5.81 percent (up from 5.62 percent in the first quarter of 2004).

Condominiums

The Illinois condominium market remains robust, posting 10,596 units sold in the first quarter of 2005, a 16.3 percent increase over 2004 figures of 9,108 units sold for the same period. The statewide median price for condos increased 10.5 percent to $201,750, compared to $182,600 in the first quarter of 2004.

The Chicago PMSA saw a 16.0 percent increase in condominium sales in the first quarter of 2005 to 10,272 units sold, from 8,857 in 2004. For the Chicagoland area, the median condo price rose 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2005, to $205,000 compared to $185,000 in 2004. 

 “According to the National Association of REALTORS,® more than 36 percent of all homes in the country purchased last year were second homes bought for vacation homes or rental investment property,” said Veneris, broker-owner of Realty Executives Pro/Team of Downers Grove and Realty Executives REALTORS® in Naperville. “We see this trend firsthand in the Chicagoland condo market, which also has become an investment opportunity as well as a first-home choice for children of the boomers and single professionals who want to own rather than rent.”

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose 54,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS® works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation that safeguards and advances the interest of real property ownership.

*IAR uses the median income for four-person families figure, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau, in its housing affordability index figures.  According to the Census Bureau, the methodology used to compute four-person family income by state utilizes the most recent data available from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the decennial census of population as well as per capita personal income estimates produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  IAR also uses the Chicagoland PMSA as defined by the OMB (Cook County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, Grundy County, Kane County, Kendall County, Lake County, McHenry County, and Will County.)