August 15, 2005

For Immediate Release

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

Illinois Second-Quarter Home Sales Up 1.3 Percent; Statewide Single-Family Median Price at $201,500

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Real estate activity in Illinois remained robust in the second quarter with total home sales statewide still ahead of last year. Total home sales, which include single-family homes and condominiums, were up 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the period April through June of last year. A total of 54,081 single-family homes and condominiums sold across the state in the second quarter of 2005, from 53,410 sales in 2004. Year-to-date home sales for the first six months of the year total 87,371, up 2.3 percent from 85,421 in 2004.

“Housing is still bustling largely due to attractive interest rates and more good news than bad for the economy. Illinois’ unemployment rate has trended higher than the national rate due to layoffs experienced in the second quarter, but that and higher oil and gas prices have not dampened buyer demand in the housing market,” said John Veneris, CRB, CRS, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. “Illinois remains one of the more affordable places in the country to buy a home with strong but healthy price appreciation.”

The second-quarter interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.83 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. Sales gains were reported in 46 of 98 Illinois counties reporting in the second quarter; 62 counties reported an increase in median sales price for the same period.

Single-family home sales for the quarter slipped 1.8 percent to 37,234 homes sold from 37,927 in 2004. The median price of a single-family home during the second quarter of 2005 was up 8.9 percent to $201,500 compared to $185,000 last year in the same period.

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), sales of single-family homes were down 2.2 percent in the second quarter to 23,249, compared to 23,763 home sales in 2004. The median price of single-family homes sold in the Chicagoland PMSA increased 8.2 percent to $265,000 in the second quarter of 2005 compared to $245,000 in the same period one year ago. The Chicagoland PMSA includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Statewide, single-family median home prices in the second quarter ranged from $327,000 in DuPage County to $39,500 in Clay County. A sample of the counties in the Chicagoland PMSA that reported year-to-year price appreciation include Cook, up 11.8 percent to $265,000; DeKalb County, up 5.5 percent to $183,000; Grundy, up 11.3 percent to $204,750; Kane, up 6.8 percent to $250,000; Kendall, up 8.9 percent to $256,000; Lake, up 5.3 percent to $292,000; McHenry up 5.6 percent to $245,000; and Will, up 7.4 percent to $235,000.

A sample of counties around the state that saw median price increases includes Champaign, up 9.4 percent to $140,000; Kankakee, up 15.5 percent to $134,500; Madison, up 11.6 percent to $125,000; Peoria, up 11.0 percent to $106,000; Rock Island, up 9.4 percent to $93,000; St. Clair, up 11.5 percent to $129,900; Sangamon, up 9.5 percent to $115,000; Tazewell, up 12.1 percent to $111,000; and Winnebago, up 14.5 percent to $125,900.

Affordability

The second-quarter 2005 Illinois Housing Affordability Index* stood at 166.53, compared to 165.58 during the second 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 $74,278 had 166.53 percent of the income needed to qualify for conventional financing covering 80 percent of a home priced at the median price of $201,500.

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 second-quarter 2005 effective rate for the North Central region, which includes Illinois, was 5.83 percent (down from 6.22 percent in second-quarter 2004).

Condominiums

The Illinois condominium market reported 16,847 units sold in the second quarter of 2005, an 8.8 percent increase over 2004 figures of 15,483 units sold for the same period. The statewide median price for condos increased 7.4 percent to $204,000, compared to $190,000 in the second quarter of 2004.

The Chicago PMSA saw an 8.7 percent increase in condominium sales in the second quarter of 2005 to 16,211 units sold, from 14,918 in 2004. For the Chicagoland area, the median condo price rose 7.2 percent in the second quarter of 2005, to $208,000 compared to $194,000 in 2004. 

"REALTORS® anticipate continued demand in the upcoming months. Economists for the National Association of REALTORS® predict mortgage interest rates to peak at 6.5 percent by year’s end, and rates remain a tremendous driver for single-family and condo sales," said Veneris, broker-owner of Realty Executives Pro/Team of Downers Grove. “The Illinois condo market is leading the race to another record year for housing.”

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® is a voluntary trade association whose 55,000 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.)