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®.
- 1,876 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in December 2019. This is a 10.2 percent increase from December 2018.
- The median sales price in the City of Chicago for December 2019 was $278,000, up 10.1 percent from this time last year.
- The City of Chicago saw listings average 97 days on the market until contract, a 12.8 percent increase from December 2018.
- Check out the December 2019 FastStats.
STATE OF THE MARKET
- In 2019 home prices were up again in most markets. Buyer demand continues to be strong but with tepid seller activity still in many locations, total sales are lower than they would normally be in a more balanced market. While up from their recent lows a few months ago, mortgage rates end the year close to three-quarters of a percent lower than a year ago, helping to improve affordability and offset rising home prices.
- With low mortgage rates, low unemployment, and continued wage growth, home buyer activity is expected to remain healthy into the new year. New construction has been on the rise in 2019 and is expected to continue into 2020, but many experts note that the country is still not building enough new units to quench demand. It remains to be seen whether existing homeowners will be enticed to sell by higher home prices, which could finally bring the overall housing market into greater balance.
- “An uptick in closed sales and median sales price is positive,” Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty, said. “ We continue to see a drop in inventory, which means fewer homes are available. The increase in the median sales price reflects this.”
INVENTORY
- The City of Chicago’s inventory is down 7.8 percent, from 7,578 homes in December 2018 to 6,990 homes in December 2019.
- The month’s supply of inventory declined 6.1 percent, from 3.3 in December 2018 to 3.1 in December 2019.