Regional Spotlight: May Illinois Home Sales up from Previous Month

RISMEDIA, June 26, 2007?May home sales in Illinois rose for the fourth consecutive month in 2007 yet are lower than sales from May 2006. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors(R) latest report, total home sales (which include single-family and condominiums) were up 10.9% in May 2007 to 14,349 homes sold compared to 12,932 homes sold in April 2007. Sales were 18.6% below the 17,622 homes sold in May 2006.

The Illinois median home price in May was $205,000, equal to the median price a year earlier. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.

Year-to-date, sales were down 14.7% to 56,775 homes sold in 2007 compared to 66,575 homes sold January through May 2006.????

“Overall sales are improving each month and we are still seeing positive gains in the median home sale price in many market areas in the state despite the overall housing market adjustment we are experiencing. Illinois Realtors(R) are reporting homes that are priced correctly and in move-in condition are selling,” said Robert Zoretich, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors(R). “We continue to be in a strong buyers’ market with interest rates inching up and inventory levels giving buyers a greater variety of homes. Sellers are gradually becoming more realistic and flexible in the pricing of their properties.”

The monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for the North Central region was 6.29% in May 2007, up 0.06 points from the 6.23 average rate during the previous month, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Last year in May it averaged 6.70%.

The statewide average home price in May was $259,357, up 1.3% from $256,066 a year earlier. In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), home sales totaled 9,750 in May 2007, down 20.7% from 12,295 home sales in the same month last year.

The median home price for the Chicagoland PMSA was $252,388, up 1.2% from $249,500 in May 2006. The average home price for Chicagoland was $317,452, up 2.5% from $309,643 in May 2006.

“A basic fundamental driving housing demand is employment and the jobs picture has been improving in Illinois over the last few months,” said Zoretich, broker-owner of Zoretich Realty Group in Chicago. “Economists from the National Association of Realtors(R) anticipate sales activity to improve by the end of the year while home sales should remain about even.”

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 35 participating Illinois Realtors(R) 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.

For more information, visit www.illinoisRealtor.org.