The median home sales price in the Chicago area has finally returned to pre-housing-crash levels, according to a RE/MAX analysis of sales during the first half of 2018.
The median sales price was $250,000, equaling the median price for the same period in 2006 and 2008 and falling just $4,000, or 1.6%, below the 2007 figure. Compared to the first half of 2017, the median sales price was up +4.2%, and home sales activity in the seven-county metro area declined -3.4% to 56,285 units.
Average market time was also lower across the metro area, coming in at 80 days this year, down from 87 days a year ago.
The number of homes for sale on June 30 was +1% higher, but listings of single-family homes declined -2.7% from the year-earlier number. The 34,040 homes on the market equaled a 2.6-month supply based on the pace of June sales.
Metro Chicago home sales in June totaled 13,155 units, -5.8% less than June 2017. The median sales price for the month was $265,000, a gain of +3.9%. Sales of detached homes fell -5.7%, and sales of attached homes declined -5.9%.
“The first six months of this year have been challenging ones for buyers and their brokers in the Chicago area, especially in the entry-level segment of the housing market, meaning properties priced up to $300,000,” said Jeff LaGrange, vice president of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois Region. “Sales of homes priced under $300,000 were down -7.2% in the first half of the year. At the same time, the number of homes selling for more than $300,000 rose by +2.6%. The major reason for the difference is that the supply of homes priced at $300,000 or more is considerably larger, relative to demand, than is the supply of lower priced homes.
“However, the inventory picture does have a bright side, with the supply of attached homes now +11% higher than it was a year ago,” LaGrange said.
The home sales data used for the RE/MAX analysis is collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service. It covers detached and attached homes in the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. Detached homes are typically stand-alone single-family dwellings. Attached homes include condominium and cooperative apartments along with townhouses.
All seven metro counties and the City of Chicago recorded lower home sales activity but a higher median sales price during the January-June period. The increases in median sales price ranged from +7.4% in McHenry to +2.4% in Lake County. As for lower sales activity, only two counties saw sales drop more than -3.4%. Those two were Kendall, down -11.5% and McHenry, down -4.3%.
Distressed properties continued to dwindle as a percentage of the overall Chicago-area housing market, accounting for just 8.1% of total sales in the first half of 2018. Distressed properties consist of foreclosures and short sales.
The first half of 2018 saw a -3.9% decline in sales of detached homes to 35,147 units. The median sales price gained +5.4% to $269,900, and average market time fell by 8 days to 90 days.
Sales activity was lower and the median price rose in all seven counties and in the city. Chicago had the distinction of recording both the smallest decline in sales, just -0.5%, and the smallest increase in median price, +1.7%. The largest increase in the median price of detached homes was in Will County, a gain of +6.2%.
Sales of attached homes fell -2.6% in the metro area during the first six months of this year to 21,138 units, while the median sales price rose +4.5% to $210,000. Average market time dipped to 64 days, down from 67 days last year. The median price of attached homes rose in all seven counties, led by increases of +14.9% in Kendall and +10.4% in McHenry. Sales activity fell in five counties and Chicago, while two counties had increases, +1.5% in DuPage and +0.4% in Kane.
