Home sales in Illinois increased almost 14% in March compared with the same month in 2012, while median prices increased nearly 4%, the state’s Realtor group said.
There were 10,992 homes sold in March, up from 9,679 on year earlier. Statewide sales have increased on a year-over-year basis every month since June 2011.
Illinois Association of Realtors president Michael D. Oldenettel said, “We are entering what is traditionally the busiest period of the year in the real estate market. The decreasing time it takes to sell a home, coupled with shrinking inventories shows there is keen interest on the part of homebuyers who are rushing to lock in favorable interest rates and take advantage of low, but increasing prices.”
The statewide median price in March was $135,000, up from $132,250 one year prior.
Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, did through a muffler on things by noting, “Foreclosed properties are accounting for a sizable portion of these sales. The good news is that foreclosed sales are
