Illinois First Quarter Home Sales Jump 23.5 Percent

Median Price Leveling at $144,600

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Buyers were out in force in the first quarter led by low interest rates and homebuyer tax credits. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS^® (IAR) first quarter 2010 report, Illinois home sales (which include single-family homes and condominiums) totaled 21,242 in the first quarter, up 23.5 percent from 17,194 home sales in the same period a year ago. The first quarter statewide median home sale price was $144,600, off 0.3 percent from $145,000 in the first quarter of 2009. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.

"It's clear the tax credit helped stabilize the housing market with sales trimming down inventories and price declines moderating; notably, single-family home prices in the first quarter were up 1.5 percent statewide from a year ago," said REALTOR® Mike Onorato, GRI, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and broker-owner of Onorato Real Estate in Coal City. "We anticipate strong sales numbers through June even with some urgency removed after the tax credit. Low mortgage interest rates and affordable home prices should continue to attract buyers."

Adds Onorato: "REALTORS® from across the nation are in Washington D.C. this week to meet with members of Congress in support of legislation to restore the orderly functioning of commercial financial markets and to strengthen the FHA program to ensure it allows access to safe, affordable financing. Moving forward, the federal government must have a continued key role in the secondary mortgage market in order to ensure there is capital for mortgage lending throughout all mortgage markets and in all market conditions."

The 1Q10 interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.03 percent in the North Central Region, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. It was up from 4.99 percent in the fourth quarter but down from 5.12 percent a year ago in 1Q09.

"Forecasts for the next three months of April, May and June indicate sales increasing statewide in the 10 to 25 percent range and in the Chicagoland region in the 15 to 40 percent range compared to a year ago," said Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois. "Median prices will move upward adding almost $13,000 in Illinois and $16,000 in the Chicagoland region over the three months."

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) total home sales (single-family and condominiums) were up 36.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to 14,365 homes sold compared to 10,507 home sales in the first quarter of 2009. The region's first quarter 2010 median price was $175,500, down 6.4 percent from $187,500 in the first quarter of 2009.

According to the IAR report, total home sales (single-family and condominiums) comparing 1Q10 to 1Q09 were up in 54 of 99 Illinois counties reporting with 43 of 99 counties posting median price increases. The following Illinois counties reported both sales and median price increases for the quarter: Grundy sales up 1.2 percent, median price up 4.3 percent to $158,000; Jo Daviess sales up 35.7 percent, median price up 11.5 percent to $147,500; LaSalle sales up 18.7 percent, median price up 9.3 percent to $99,500; Lake sales up 34.0 percent, median price up 2.7 percent to $190,000; Madison sales up 4.4 percent, median price up 5.6 percent to $103,000; Rock Island sales up 13.1 percent, median price up 3.8 percent to $92,000; and Sangamon sales up 3.3 percent, median price up 3.5 percent to $120,000.

In the city of Chicago, total home sales (single-family and condominiums) in the first quarter were up 41.6 percent to 4,241 sales compared to sales of 2,995 in the first quarter of 2009. The city of Chicago median price in the first quarter was $196,000 down 8.8 percent from $215,000 in the same period for 2009.

"We are seeing a consistent rise in consumer confidence, with a nearly 47 percent increase in the number of condos sold in the first quarter of 2010 from the first quarter last year. That's great news," said REALTOR® Genie Birch, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and a broker associate with Koenig & Strey Real Living Chicago. "Lower prices reflect the number of foreclosures and distressed properties on the market, which are being absorbed fairly steadily but won't cease until the job market improves. With the tax credit behind us, we will be watching closely to see how other incentive and lending programs help qualified individuals keep the homes in which they have equity or buy new homes."

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 37 participating Illinois REALTOR^® local boards and associations. The Chicago PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS^® is a voluntary trade association whose 46,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS^® works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation that safeguards and advances the interest of real property ownership.

Detailed first quarter 2010 Illinois home sales data can be accessed at the IAR Web site, www.illinoisrealtor.org, on Market Stats.

SOURCE Illinois Association of REALTORS