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®.- 2,042 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in March 2019. This is a 12.8 percent decrease from March 2018.
- The median sales price in the City of Chicago for March 2019 was $292,000, down 6.0 percent from this time last year.
- The City of Chicago saw listings average 102 days on the market until contract, a 5.2 percent increase from 97 days in March 2018.
- Check out the March 2019 FastStats.
STATE OF THE MARKET
- In addition to the quandary of ongoing housing price increases and affordability concerns in many U.S. markets, the first quarter of 2019 saw a fair share of adverse weather as well. Sales totals were mixed across the nation and sometimes dependent on what was a persistent wintry mix, especially in the Great Plains, Midwest and Northeast. Meanwhile, new listings and total homes for sale have been trending lower in year-over-year comparisons in many areas, and last year’s marks were already quite low.
- The Federal Reserve recently announced that no further interest rate hikes are planned for 2019. Given the fact that the federal funds rate has increased nine times over the past three years, this was welcome news for U.S. consumers, which carry an approximate average of $6,000 in revolving credit card debt per household. Fed actions also tend to affect mortgage rates, so the pause in rate hikes was also welcome news to the residential real estate industry.
- “The data is reflective of a spring where buyers are being deliberate in their spending,” Tommy Choi, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and broker at Keller Williams Chicago – Lincoln Park, said. “With political uncertainty heading into the April run-off and new tax rules coming into play, buyers held back to see how it all shook out. As the spring selling season ramps up, we’ll start to see more activity again, although at a more measured pace reflective of the current consumer climate.”
INVENTORY
- City of Chicago inventory is up 1.7 percent, from 8,239 homes in March 2018 to 8,376 homes in March 2019.
- The month’s supply of inventory is up slightly (5.7%), from 3.5 in March 2018 to 3.7 in March 2019.