Illinois Existing Home Price Up

 Print Article

Despite recent slow-down in home sale rates, sales are still ahead of last year. Realtors expected home sales to return to more a sustainable level.
Illinois Existing Home Price Up

RISMEDIA, Sept. 24 — The median price of existing, single-family homes in Illinois in August rose 5.6% and sales dropped 2.8% compared to the same period a year ago, the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR) reported today.

“We’ve been expecting home sales to return to more a sustainable level, from the record-breaking levels in the first quarter of the year,” says Ron Hardgrove, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors. “Despite the recent slow-down in home sale rates, sales are still ahead of last year.”

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family home was $169,400 in August 2002, as compared to $160,400 in August 2001. August home sales totaled 11,489 — down just 2.8% from 11,820 one year ago. Year-to-date sales (January through August), however, rose 3.1% from 74,260 during the same period a year ago, to 76,562 this year.

“A growing population and strong household formation continue to stimulate demand in the Illinois housing market,” Hardgrove says. “Although favorable interest rates — at their lowest level in four decades — are having a positive influence on the real estate market, we still cannot discount the fact that the economy is wavering with rising unemployment, lagging consumer confidence and volatility in the stock market.”

Existing, single-family home sales totaled 7,395 in the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) in August, down 4.3% from 7,725 during the same period one year ago. The Chicagoland PMSA median home price last month was $218,200, compared to $202,200 in August 2001 — an increase of 7.9%.

The Chicagoland PMSA includes the counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will, Grundy and Kendall, and consists of data from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, which includes 11 boards and associations of Realtors.

The average commitment rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.40% in August, in the North Central region — the lowest rate yet for 2002. This rate, as calculated through the Primary Mortgage Market Survey of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, is .61 percentage points below the August 2001 rate of 7.01%.

“Housing affordability improves with each drop in interest rates,” says Hardgrove, who is senior vice president of Coldwell Banker Devonshire, Peoria region. “Down payment assistance programs and a wide array of mortgage loan products have also helped the first-time home-buyers market.”

The average home price for existing, single-family homes in Illinois increased 3.8% from $191,200 in August 2001 to $198,500 in August 2002. The Illinois Association of Realtors is a statewide trade association whose 40,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry.

IAR second quarter 2002 statistics are published at the IAR Web site at www.illinoisrealtor.org. The third quarter home sale statistics report will be issued on November 13.

RISMEDIA welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: editorial@rismedia.com.