September 2019 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®.
  • 1,975 properties were sold in the City of Chicago in September 2019. This is a 3.1 percent decrease from September 2018.
  • The median sales price in the City of Chicago for September 2019 was $292,500, up 2.6 percent from this time last year.
  • The City of Chicago saw listings average 78 days on the market until contract, a 9.9 percent increase from 71 days in September 2018.
  • Check out the September 2019 FastStats.

STATE OF THE MARKET

  • With the kids back in school and the weather cooling, the housing market begins its annual cooldown as well. Nationally, buyer and seller activity remained strong, buoyed by low mortgage rates and a strong economy. The market fundamentals suggest no significant changes from recent trends, other than the seasonally tempered pace we see this time of year. As we move into the final three months of 2019, buyers will find fewer homes coming on the market, but also less competition for those homes.
  • In Washington, there are discussions around a broad overhaul of the housing finance system, including the re-privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reforms to federal agencies involved with financing substantial portions of the mortgages made every year. Many of these policy conversations and eventual changes will take months or years to be implemented and their impact is not yet clear. While Halloween decorations are beginning to adorn homes around the country, the real estate market this fall is looking far from scary.
  • “The fall market is in full swing and sales are stabilizing as a result,” Maurice Hampton, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and owner of Centered International Realty, said. “While we saw slight declines in closed sales for all properties, including single-family homes and condos, we also saw slight increases in median sales prices. Buyers are benefiting from reasonable prices, low rates and increased market times.”

INVENTORY

  • The City of Chicago’s inventory is down 4.4 percent, from 10,363 homes in September 2018 to 9,904 homes in September 2019.
  • The month’s supply of inventory remained the same at 4.5 in September 2018 and September 2019.