Home sales in the Chicagoland area showed unexpected strength in June, according to new analysis from IAR

Home sales and median prices in the nine-county Chicagoland area both rose by year-over-year measurements in June, climbing 14.2 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, according to the latest numbers from the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, the director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, said the jump in sales contrasted with most modest price increases.

“The burst in sales growth last month was unexpected,” Hewings said. “Prices, however, are growing more modestly yet strongly. The foreclosure inventory seems to be playing a diminishing role in terms of both sales and prices with significant declines in the shares of sales accounted for by foreclosed properties in recent months.”

At the county level, home sales were up 19.3 percent in Will County and 14.0 percent in Lake County, while in Cook County, median price rose 9.2 percent.

Suburbs, City Housing Markets on Equal Footing

As opposed to previous months, growth in both home sales and prices were consistent for the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs:

• In Chicago, there were 3,110 home sales in June, a 9.3 percent increase from a year ago; median price, at $290,000, was up 5.5 percent.
• Meanwhile, in Chicago’s suburban housing market, sales for detached homes rose 9.2 percent, while median price rose 4.4 percent, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe).
• That’s the fourth consecutive month of yearly increases for both sales and prices, and pending suburban sales, MORe also reported, were up 23.5 percent.

Pradeep Shukla, the president of MORe and managing broker of RE/MAX Renaissance in Des Plaines, said some suburban areas are seeing particularly strong sales.

“The market is very strong across our region, but in west suburban areas like Naperville and Aurora, things are particularly hot,” Shukla said. “Overall, sales volume so far this year is up 14 percent over 2014. The total value of detached homes sold in the first five months of the year topped $867 million.”

Stay tuned for Chicago Agent‘s follow-up reports, which will look at the top-selling suburbs and neighborhoods in Chicagoland.