March 26, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
The spring selling season got off to a strong start in Illinois as monthly sales of existing homes and condominiums surged to their highest levels since 2008 while home prices also made a strong showing according to the latest data from the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR).
An estimated total of 9,575 existing homes and condos were sold in the Land of Lincoln in March, the most sales for a March in four years. Home sales were 35.4 percent higher than the 7,067 homes sold in February and were 21.1 percent higher than the 7,904 homes sold in March 2011.
The median sales price for an existing home in Illinois increased 9.4 percent to $130,000 from $118,800 in February and was unchanged from March of last year, the first time since June of 2010 that the year-over-year price hasn’t declined.
Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®, stated, “There’s no doubt that these are strong numbers to open the spring selling season. To see such good sales numbers, coupled with a measure of price stability is encouraging news no matter what side of a real estate transaction you happen to be on.”
In the nine-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), sales of existing homes and condos totaled 6,590 in March, up 34.9 percent from 4,884 homes sold in February and up 23.8 percent from 5,323 homes sold in March of 2011.
The median sales price for a home in the Chicago MSA was $151,850 in March, up 12.5 percent from a median price of $135,000 in February but still down 3.9 percent compared to March of last year when the median sales price was $158,000.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Illinois
