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®.- 1,733 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in December 2018. This is a 15.8 percent decrease from December 2017.
- The median sales price in the City of Chicago for December 2018 was $246,750, down 6.9 percent from this time last year.
- The City of Chicago saw listings average 83 days on the market until contract, a 5.7 percent decrease from 88 days in December 2017.
- Check out the December 2018 FastStats.
STATE OF THE MARKET
- Home prices were consistently up again in most markets in 2018 but at reduced levels compared to recent years. High demand for few homes for sale fueled price increases, but evidence is mounting that inventory will finally improve in 2019. This may apply some downward pressure on prices for beleaguered home buyers. A fourth interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in 2018 spooked the stock market to close out the year. The Fed has indicated that the number of rate increases in 2019 will be halved, which may be of little comfort to an already compressed consumer.
- Unemployment rates remained remarkably low again in 2018, and wages continued to improve for many U.S. households. It is generally good for all parties involved in real estate transactions when wages grow, but the percentage of increase, on average, has not kept pace with home price increases. This created an affordability crux in the second half of 2018. Housing affordability will remain an important storyline in 2019.
- “The current atmosphere presents some opportunities for both buyers and sellers, despite the historically slow time of year for the market,” Tommy Choi, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and broker at Keller Williams Chicago – Lincoln Park, said. “With the December rate increase and the start of the government shut down, consumers were more measured in their approach to buying a home – although the continued decline in market time illustrates that, despite these factors, when they found the right home, at the right price, they were willing to act quickly.”
INVENTORY
- City of Chicago inventory is down 3.3 percent, from 7,403 homes in December 2017, to 7,157 homes in December 2018.
- The month’s supply of inventory stayed the same, at 3.1 percent in December 2017 and December 2018 in the City of Chicago.
