Chicagoland home sales posted strong numbers in January, rising 36.8 percent year-over-year.

January was another strong month of real estate for the Chicagoland area, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR), with Chicagoland home sales rising 36.8 percent year-over-year.

Though the area’s median price was only up 0.7 percent on account of Chicagoland’s vast inventory of distressed properties, median price was up 5.5 percent in Will County and 3.1 percent in Cook County.

Chicagoland Home Sales Strong in January

Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, the director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, said that though Chicagoland’s foreclosure inventory remains high, 2013 could bring about change for the market.

“The sales volumes are impressive, and with foreclosure sales continuing to outpace new additions, there is some expectation that over the next year, prices might start to move upward in some sustained fashion,” Hewings said.

Other details from IAR’s report included:

• Home sales in the city of Chicago increased 32.2 percent year-over-year in January, rising from 1,123 home sales in January 2012 to 1,485 in 2013.
• The condo market in Chicago was similarly strong, posting a yearly sales increase of 29.7 percent.
• Contrary to the greater Chicagoland area, median price for the city of Chicago soared in January, rising 7.4 percent to $159,000.

Zeke Morris, the president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, added additional information about Chicago’s improving condo market.

“The first month of 2013 continues to show positive signs of a market recovery in the city of Chicago,” Morris said. “The median price of a condo rose to $202,500, up 8.7 percent from January of last year.  The condo market’s slow revival shows a steady but measured improvement that we will continue to watch as an indicator for the greater health of the city’s housing marketplace in 2013.”

Progress in Chicago’s Suburban Housing Markets

Also, the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe) reported very promising numbers for Chicago’s suburban housing markets, including:

• Sales of single-family, detached homes in suburban Chicago climbed 37.5 percent in January year-over-year. Sales were particularly notable in Elmwood Park, where they increased 450 percent, Evergreen Park (up a stratospheric 850 percent) and Glen Ellyn (up 313 percent).
• Also, the number of detached homes under contract in January grew by nearly 60 percent in the nearly 200 communities in DuPage, Lake and Cook County that MORe follows.
• The median sale price for detached homes increased as well, up 3.6 percent from the previous January.

Tonya Corder, the president of MORe, said she was encouraged by the results.

“I am encouraged to see yet another month of double-digit growth in sales volume in January,” Corder said. “The opportunity available in today’s marketplace is almost unprecedented.”