Homes sales in Illinois jumped 30.6% in November year-over-year and median prices rose 7.7% as well, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
In November, home sales statewide added up to 10,135 homes sold, up from 7,758 last November. Additionally, the median home price in Illinois rose from $130,000 in November 2011 to $140,000 last month.
“All of the measurements we are seeing in this report point to a housing market that is not losing strength,” said Michael Oldenettel, president of IAR. “In fact, we have seen a respectable momentum in a part of the year when the real estate business tends to slow down for the holidays.”
Further backing the idea that the 15-year mortgage is on the rise, the monthly average commitment rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 4% last November to 3.33% last month.
However, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, says this success may not be here to stay.
“The trends have changed from down to up, but as we look ahead to 2013 there are a number of concerns about whether this will be sustained,” said Hewings. “The most obvious one is the potential for the non-resolution of the fiscal cliff, we still have uncertainty about what is happening in Europe and China. If all these have a positive resolution then we can expect 2013 to continue this modest recovery.”
But for now, the state should be proud of its turnaround in 2012 . The Windy City saw a 22.5% year-over-year increase in home sales in November. The median price of a home in Chicago jumped 14.6% year-over-year to $180,000 last month.
“We are encouraged by positive trends we’re seeing across the Chicago market,” said Realtor Zeke Morris, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors.
“Adding to the mix, November saw a 41.2% drop in inventory compared to last year, which tells us the big banks are working through their bottleneck of pending financing agreements. We also saw a decrease in market days, signaling greater confidence among buyers who are picking up attractively priced homes while they still can.”
