February 2020 Market Snapshot

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®.
  • 1,483 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in February 2020. This is a 2.3% increase from February 2019.
  • The median sales price in the City of Chicago for February 2020 was $289,950, up 6.4% from this time last year.
  • The City of Chicago saw listings average 105 days on the market until contract, a 2.8% decrease from February 2019.
  • Check out the February 2020 FastStats.

STATE OF THE MARKET

  • As we progressed through February, the actual and expected impacts of COVID-19 continued to grow, with concerns of economic impact reaching the stock market in the last week of the month. As the stock market declined, so did mortgage rates, offering a bad news-good news situation. While short term declines in the stock market can sting, borrowers who lock in today’s low rates will benefit significantly in the long term.
  • The recently released January ShowingTime Showing Index® saw a 20.2 percent year-over-year increase in showing traffic nationwide. All regions of the country were up double digits from the year before, with the Midwest Region up 15.7 percent and the West Region up 34.1 percent. As showing activity is a leading indicator for future home sales, the 2020 housing market is off to a strong start, though it will be important to watch the spread of COVID-19 and its potential impacts to the overall economy in the coming months.
  • “As we ease into what should have been the beginning of the spring home buying and selling season, the data reflects that consumers are being deliberate in their spending,” Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty, said. “Median sales are on the up while inventory and days on the market both declined, showing that buyers are active in their search.”

INVENTORY

  • The City of Chicago’s inventory is down 9.2%, from 8,255 homes in February 2019 to 7,492 homes in February 2020.
  • The month’s supply of inventory declined 10.8%, from 3.7 in February 2019 to 3.3 in February 2020.