Illinois Home Sales

Statewide Median Home Price Holds Steady at $199,000; November Homes Sales Down from a Year Ago

Statewide total home sales (including single-family and condominiums) were down 17.6 percent to 11,281 homes sold, compared to 13,691 sales in November 2005. Year-to-date home sales totaled 156,992 in 2006, down 16.3 percent from 187,538 homes sold during January through November of 2005.

“The Illinois housing market did not experience a dramatic run-up in prices like other markets in the country over the past several years and we continue to experience fairly stable price appreciation. Sales figures in November reflect a return to more normal market conditions compared to the boom years as well as a seasonal slowdown as we begin the holiday months,” said Robert Zoretich, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS. “What this market offers is an ideal opportunity for buyers to find the home they want and purchase it with a very affordable mortgage interest rate.”

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central region was 6.27 percent in November 2006, down 0.13 points from the 6.40 average rate during the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Last year in November it averaged 6.41 percent.

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), total home sales (single-family and condominiums) totaled 7,580 in November 2006, down 21.9 percent from 9,702 home sales in the same month last year. The median home price for the Chicagoland PMSA was $245,000 in November, up 0.5 percent from $243,862 in November 2005.

“Currently the jobs picture looks good in Illinois, mortgage interest rates are near historic lows and we have good economic fundamentals in place as the market continues its return to more normal conditions. The homeownership rate in Illinois reached 70.9 percent in the third quarter of this year, which is slightly higher even than the national rate of 69.0 percent,” said Zoretich, broker-owner of Zoretich Realty Group in Chicago. “For most people a home is a long-term investment providing both equity accumulation and tax benefits over time, and it’s an investment that is best to receive the assistance of a professional REALTOR.”

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 35 participating Illinois REALTOR local boards and associations. The Chicagoland PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS is a voluntary trade association whose 64,000 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.

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