Statewide Home Sales Down in January Compared to a Year Ago
Illinois Median Price at $149,900

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois REALTORS® urge swift implementation of federal economic stimulus and foreclosure mitigation measures to help stabilize housing markets. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® latest report, total home sales (which include single-family and condominiums) were down 23.9 percent to 4,599 homes sold in January 2009 compared to 6,045 homes sold in January 2008. The Illinois median price in January was $149,900, down 19.6 percent from $186,500 in January 2008. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.

“Recent good news about the federal stimulus law combined with President Obama’s plan to minimize foreclosures offer attractive incentives for first-time buyers and assistance for homeowners facing foreclosure,” said REALTOR® Pat Callan, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. “The $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit comes at a time when mortgage interest rates are at historical lows, and the new credit does not have to be repaid. The foreclosure plan should help stabilize home values affected in some areas by distressed sales working their way through the system.”

Adds Callan, broker-owner of Realty Executives Premiere in Wheaton: “A stabilized and stronger housing market is going to be a vital part of any economic rebound.”

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central region was 5.05 percent in January 2009, down 0.14 points from the 5.19 average rate during the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Last year in January it averaged 5.73 percent.

In the Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), home sales totaled 2,965 in January 2009, down 24.5 percent from 3,927 home sales in the same month of 2008. The median home sale price for the Chicago PMSA was $185,000 in January 2009, down 22.8 percent from $239,500 in January 2008.

“The proposed changes in repayments for troubled loans offer some prospect that the growth in foreclosed properties might be reduced since these properties are in a sense crowding out others in the market, increasing inventories and extending time on the market,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois.

In the city of Chicago, January total home sales (single-family and condominiums) were down 23.5 percent to 888 sales compared to January 2008 sales of 1,161. The city of Chicago median price in January was $206,250, down 28.9 percent from $290,000 in January 2008.

“The results of the January sales survey confirm the level of recent buyer activity has been tentative and anemic. At the same time more and more sellers have reached the lowest price point at which they are willing or able to sell their home,” said David Hanna, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®. “We wholeheartedly welcome the remedies such as the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers in the 2009 stimulus package and the Obama administration's most recent announcement for homeowner and foreclosure relief.”

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 37 participating Illinois REALTOR® local boards and associations. The Chicago 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 57,000 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.

Find Illinois market stats data at www.illinoisrealtor.org, click on Market Stats.

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