Home Prices Are Ticking Up In Chicago, & People Are Slow To Buy

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 23, 2017 2:50PM

Getty Images; Photo: Joe Raedle

Home sale totals compared to last year in Chicago have stayed largely flat—even dipping slightly—while at the same time prices have jumped up, with potential buyers showing signs of apprehension, according to the latest figures from Illinois Realtors.

The stagnation is reflected in homes sales for May, 2017 (2,973 sales) compared to May, 2016 (2,980)—for a small decline of 0.2 percent.

During the same timeframes, the price of homes in the city continued to climb. The median price for a home (which includes single-family homes and condos) rose 5.5 percent in May when compared to the same month last year. The median price in May, 2017 was $306,750; last May it was just $290,750.

The combination seems to have led to a degree of cautiousness on the part of would-be homebuyers.

"The market appears to be in a 'wait and see' mode in both Illinois and Chicago” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, in a news release.

The budget impasse-impaired economy and the much-fretted-over slight population loss may be factors to some degree. “The state’s economy has stuttered and the fiscal cloud hanging over the state has seen enhanced net out-migration that has contributed to a dampening of demand,” Hewings said.

A limited amount of housing stock means buyers are either having to make sacrifices off their home wish list or keep waiting it out. "We're in an interesting, sophisticated market at present, wherein inventory is restricting what's available for those who are looking to buy," said Matt Silver, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, in a release. "Sellers are having to price their properties appropriately, as educated buyers are prepared to be flexible on their wants and needs in a new home or wait for the perfect home to come on the market and pay accordingly."

Statewide, home median prices also rose (8.3 percent). Sale totals meanwhile grew higher on the state level than in Chicago, with home sales climbing 3.8 percent in May, 2017 compared to May of last year.