May 21--Chicago-area home prices continued to grow in April, with median prices up 10.6 percent over last year and home sales up 9.3 percent, real estate trade association Illinois Realtors reported Friday.
The median price of homes sold in the nine-county Chicago area was $230,000, compared with $208,000 in April 2015. Statewide, home sales climbed 8.2 percent and prices were up 10.4 percent over last year, according to the association.
Within the city, the growth in prices was fueled by single-family homes, where the median sales price was up 24.7 percent compared with last year, while the median condo price slipped half a percent. Chicago single-family home sales grew at a relatively sluggish 1.5 percent in April.
"People really, really, really want to stay in the city," said Matt Silver, partner with Urban Real Estate.
But there aren't that many single-family homes available in Chicago, pushing prices higher, he said. A large condo market with plenty of buyers and sellers keeps prices relatively steady, Silver said.
Combined, growth in single-family home and condo sales and median prices in the city -- 7.9 percent and 6 percent, respectively -- lagged behind those in the suburbs and state overall. Statewide home sales were up 8.2 percent over last year, and median prices rose 10.4 percent.
In the suburbs, Lake County saw big gains in home sales, up 18 percent over last April.
"Any suggestion the state's housing market was beginning to slow appears to have been premature," Mike Drews, president of Illinois Realtors, said in a news release. "A buyer can't dawdle in a market like this. Any delay can result in losing the home they want as there are so many other motivated buyers in this spring market."
lzumbach@tribpub.com
