Chicago saw a boost in home sales this November, a stark contrast to the decrease in sales just a month before, according to the latest RE/MAX report.
Home sales for November totaled 9,740 homes sold, an increase of 18% from the previous year’s 8,019 homes, marking the highest number of homes sold in November since 2005. This is in contrast to October, when home sales decreased by 5% annually.
“It’s difficult to explain why home sales were down in October but were so buoyant in November,” said Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois.
“It could be that many sales transactions which normally would have been completed in October were pushed back into November,” Kreider said. “Perhaps, it was related to the election, but whatever the reason, we’re delighted to see the housing market deliver such a strong November performance.”
The median home price increased 9% annually to $215,000 in November, and the number of days homes spent on the market decreased from 92 days last year to 88 days, the lowest market time since November 2005.
However, inventory continues to be a problem in the Chicago market. Inventory of homes for sale held steady at 10% below 2015 levels.
The home sales data used for RE/MAX’s analysis was collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service. It covers detached and attached homes in the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. Detached homes are typically stand-alone single-family dwellings. Attached homes include condominium and cooperative apartments along with townhouses.
