Year-over-year Illinois home sales increased 25.3% in April marking the best spring performance since 2007.
April sales of single-family homes and condominiums increased to 12,621 homes, up from 10,076 homes sold in April 2012, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
The median price increased 7.7% during the month to $145,900, up from $135,500.
Favorable interest rates continue to lure buyers generating strong demand that helped increase spring sales to very encouraging levels despite “substantial tightening of the numbers of homes on the market," said Michael Oldenettel, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors and managing broker/owner with Re/Max Results Plus in Jacksonville, Ill.
Interest rates were at 3.42% on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages for the North Central region, down from 3.89% in 2012 and 3.54% in March, according to Freddie Mac.
Hence, the time it takes to sell a home has also fallen with days on market averaging 89 days in April, down 19.8% compared to 111 days last year.
Similarly, the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area saw a 31.2% increase in home sales from 6,977 homes sold in April 2012 to a total of 9,152 in April 2013, as well as a 8.1% increase in the median home price.
Out of 102 Illinois counties reporting to IAR, 55 showed year-over-year home sales increases in April, while 42 counties reported year-over-year median price increases.
All of the above indicate “the housing market is exhibiting signs of a more stable recovery” and strong early summer sales even though gains in median prices remain modest, said Geoffrey Hewings, director of the regional economics applications laboratory of the University of Illinois.
