Business & Tech

Home Sales Momentum Continued in August

RE/MAX reports August home sales across metro Chicago real estate market. McHenry County tops list in sales of attached homes.

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Home sales in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market followed a familiar path in August, with more homes changing hands more quickly, according to an analysis by RE/MAX.

August sales of detached and attached homes reached a combined total of 9,145 units, which is a robust 26.5 percent higher than in the same month in 2011 and the highest August sales total since 2007.

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The pace of sales also quickened. The average number of days that homes sold in August spent on the market before a sales contract was signed declined from 165 days a year ago to 139 days this August, the lowest market time for the metro area in any month since December 2007.

For the second consecutive month, the share of all sales that involve distressed properties, specifically foreclosed homes and short sales, was up in August. Distressed sales accounted for 37.5 percent of all sales, up from 36.4 percent a year ago and 36.1 percent in July of this year.

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β€œThe inventory of homes for sale and the days needed to sell a home continue to shrink, which is a positive sign for home values going forward. It also indicates that the market is being brought back into balance,” said Laura Ortoleva, a spokesperson for the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network.

Ortoleva reports that the active inventory in the seven-county metro area plus Grundy and DeKalb counties fell 3 percent in August and ended the month 22 percent lower than it had been just 12 months earlier.

Median Sales Price

Homes sold in the metro-Chicago market during August had a median price of $170,000, 4.4 percent less than during the same month last year. The RE/MAX analysis is based on transaction information from Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC.

The median sales price of a home rose 2 percent in McHenry County when compared to August of last year. The five other counties saw median prices decline by varying amounts ranging from 13 percent in Lake County to less than 0.1 percent in Will County.



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