Existing home sales fell substantially in Illinois in October, the state’s Realtor group reported. But for the year to date, sales are off only a bit compared to the same period a year ago.
Statewide home sales totaled 7,325, down 34.2% from 11,129 sales in October 2009, the Illinois Association of Realtors said. The decline is largely attributed to seasonal factors as the cold weather sets in as well as residual effects resulting from the end of the tax credits.
Nevertheless, sales for the year are still in positive territory, rising 0.1% with 89,050 units changing hands vs. 88,989 sales for the first 10 months of 2009.
“Like the rest of the nation, the Illinois housing market is feeling pressure from an uncertain economy,” said IAR President Sheryl Grider, the development and operations coordinator for Traders Realty in Peoria.
Grider noted that the October slide was compounded by the cloud surrounding foreclosures, and said the market is waiting for the process to be fixed so it can return to some semblance of normalcy.
In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, meanwhile, year-to-date total home sales (including single-family and condominiums) were up 4.6%, with 59,291 sales compared to 56,710 sales for the same period in 2009. However, in the Chicago MSA, 4,672 homes were sold in October, down 35.9% from 7,286 homes in October 2009.
In the city itself, year-to-date sales rose 4.6%, with 16,502 houses sold vs. 15,772 for the first 10 months of 2009. Sales in Chitown proper in October were down 39.5%, from 2,012 to 1,217.
