MARKET SNAPSHOT — CITY OF CHICAGO
*The City of Chicago Market Snapshot represents the residential real estate activity within the 77 officially defined Chicago community areas as provided by the Chicago Association of REALTORS®.- 2,039 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in April 2020. This is a 21.4% decrease from April 2019.
- The median sales price in the City of Chicago for April 2020 was $338,500, up 9.2% from this time last year.
- The City of Chicago saw listings average 81 days on the market until contract, a 3.6% decrease from April 2019.
- Check out the April 2020 FastStats.
STATE OF THE MARKET
- While the stock market recovered significantly in March, the effects of COVID-19 to the economy continue to build. In just the last four weeks, more than 20 million people filed initial unemployment claims according to the United States Department of Labor, fueled by stay at home orders and a slowdown of economic activity across the country. Added to the unemployment claims from March, more than 30 million people have become unemployed since COVID-19 has become widespread in the U.S. In the face of these challenging times, real estate activity in April slowed significantly.
- While the effect of COVID-19 continues to vary widely across the country, it is expected that social distancing, higher unemployment, and lower overall economic activity is likely to continue to constrain real estate activity in the near term. At the same time, the industry is adapting to the current environment by conducting business using technologies such as virtual showings and e-signing to help buyers and sellers with their housing needs in the face of these challenges. See national and state showing activity trends at https://www.showingtime.com/impact-of-coronavirus/.
- “We’re beginning to see a fuller picture of COVID-19’s effect on the housing market,” Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty, said. “While closed sales are down 22.2%, demand is still there – although constrained by inventory – as the median sales price ticked up and days on the market declined. While the process may have changed, the need to transact real estate hasn’t, with 2,018 closed sales in the City of Chicago last month.”
INVENTORY
- The City of Chicago’s inventory is down 19.1%, from 9,441 homes in April 2019 to 7,636 homes in April 2020.
- The month’s supply of inventory declined 14.o%, from 4.3 in April 2019 to 3.7 in April 2020.