ILLINOIS - 30% Drop in Home Sales in March, 2008, but Chicago Drop Less Severe!
IN CHICAGO, HOWEVER, MEDIAN PRICE ACTUALLY INCREASES YEAR OVER YEAR!
According to data from the Illinois Association of Realtors, 8,509 single-family homes and condos were sold across the state, versus 12,075 in March, 2007 - a decrease of 29.5% year to year. The median price statewide was off 1.3% year over year, to $194,500, versus $197,000 in March, 2007.
In the City of Chicago, the drop in sales, 2008 versus 2007, was a somewhat more modest 11.5% - 2,045 condos and single family homes were sold in the city in March, 2008, versus 2,311 sold one year earlier. However, city buyers actually faced a bit of a median price INCREASE. In March, 2008, the median condo in the city sold for $300,000, versus a $285,000 median last year - an increase of 5.3 percent.
Chicago CONDO Buyers actually faced an 8% MEDIAN price increase 2007 to 2008 - to $317,900! Indeed, the market for condos in Downtown Chicago, near The Chicago Loop, has been quite robust this year, with many condos selling very close to their asking prices.
Widening the search area to the nine-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area - including the area counties of Cook (the county which includes the City of Chicago), Lake, Kane, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kendall, Grundy, and Will - indicates a market-wide units-sold decline of 29% since last year. In the metro area, 5,753 homes and condos sold last month, versus 8,101 selling in March, 2007. Again, the median price in the area increased 1.2 percent year to year - from $245,000 in 2007, to a median $248,000 last year.
Nationally, National Association of Realtors data indicate a 2 percent unit sales drop nationally in March, 2008, to a estimated seasonally-adjusted total of 4.93 million annual units sold.
The national median price of a home was $200,700 last month - a drop of 7.7% from March, 2007.
See today's staff report in The Chicago Tribune for more info.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
