March went out like a lion in Illinois, where existing home sales hit their highest level in four years during the month and the median price snapped a 20-month streak of declines.
According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, sales of single-family homes and condominium apartments totaled 9,575 units statewide in March, a gain of 21% from 7,904 a year earlier. It was the best March since 2007, when 11,979 units changed hands.
The statewide median price in March was $130,000, the same as it was 12 months earlier and the first time since June 2010 that the median did not decline.
“There’s no doubt that these are strong numbers to open the spring selling season," said IAR President Loretta Alonzo, the broker-owner at Century 21 Alonzo & Associates in La Grange Park. “To see such good sales numbers, coupled with a measure of price stability, is encouraging news no matter what side of a real estate transaction you happen to be on.”
Alonzo said several factors contributed to the strong month: Foreclosures, which were once bottlenecked in the court system, are beginning to be resolved; interest rates continue to be at near-record lows, and prices remain attractive.
In the nine-county Chicago region, sales of houses and condos totaled 6,590 units for the month, about two-thirds of the statewide total and an increase of 24% from March 2011, when 5,323 homes were sold. The median price in the Chicago area for the month was $151,850, a drop of 4% from March 2011 when it was $158,000.
In Chicago proper, 1,626 sales were recorded, a 12.1% increase from 1,450 last March. Moreover, the median selling price was $171,750, up 5% from $163,200 a year earlier.
Bob Floss, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and broker-owner of Bob Floss and Son Realty, said agents in the city are seeing an increasing number of buyers.
