November home sales in Illinois rose 14.2% from a year earlier — a sign that a recovery in the housing market is under way, the Illinois Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
Still, home prices took a big hit, according to the report.
According to IAR, Illinois home sales in November grew to 7,954 from 6,966 in November 2010 as buyers favored lower-priced properties. The median price in November was $128,500, down 11.4% from $145,000 a year earlier.
November’s home sales are down 7% from October’s total of 8,563, in what is a typical seasonal decline over the winter months.
IAR president Loretta Alonzo expects a steady uptick in home sales activity into 2012.
“As we move through the distressed properties, predominant in the Chicagoland market, and begin to see more positive reports on the jobs front, we will be looking for some stabilization in home prices to coincide with the rising home sales,” Alonzo said.
In the city of Chicago, November home sales climbed 20.4% to 1,377 from 1,144 homes sold a year earlier. Chicago’s median home sale price in November was $160,000, down 12.3% when compared to November 2010 when it was $182,500.
In the nine-county Chicago metropolitan statistical area, home sales in November surged 20.7% to 5,453 from 4,518 in November 2010 as buyers favored lower-priced properties. The November median price in Chicago fell 14.3% to $150,000 from a year earlier when it was $175,000.
“Little by little, there is some accumulating evidence that there may be some measure of recovery in the housing market,” said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois.
Housing inventory levels are declining and the pending home sales indices are high, he noted. The month’s supply of homes on the market is 10.3 and 10.4, respectively, for the state and the Chicago MSA.
Fifty-two percent of Illinois counties reporting (52 of 100) showed year-over-year home sales increases in November 2011 while 41% (41 of 100) showed year-over-year median price increases.
The author of this article is: Justin T. Hilley
See the original post at: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/12/21/illinois-home-sales-rise-14-2-as-buyers-seek-bargains
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