Halfway through 2023, interest rates are still high, inventory is still low — and home prices are holding steady in Chicagoland as sales slip, according to new data from the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®.

Between January and July, suburban detached home sales were down 23.2% year over year. Meanwhile, the median sale price remained at $350,000.

The suburbs which saw the greatest increase in median sales price during that period were, in order: Clarendon Hills (a 36.7% increase), Lynwood (35.6%), Harvey (28.4%), Mundelein (17.9%), Wadsworth-Old Mill Creek (17.1%), Prospect Heights (13.8%), Palos Park (13.3%), Warrenville (13%), North Chicago (12.8%), Round Lake (11.7%); Riverdale (10.9%) and Sycamore (10%).

You can see a visualization of all that data here.

In July alone, sales were down 21.8% year over year, with 2,784 homes sold, and time on market was up 37.5% to 33 days. The median sale price, however, was up 4.2% to $370,000.

Attached homes showed similar changes. In the suburbs, sales were down 25.3% with 1,210 homes sold in July, and the median sale price rose 7.1%, to $245,000. Time on the market for attached homes increased less dramatically though, inclining up two days to 23.

In a press release, Mainstreet identified the unusual trends. “It’s good to see median sale prices holding, but I would not say this is a normal market … right now we have less than three months of inventory in Chicagoland,” said Mainstreet President Debbie Pawlowicz, explaining that six months of inventory is typical. “Lack of inventory drives all of the other trends we’re seeing.”

The organization also noted that the influx of experienced buyers into the market is tightening competition; baby boomers made up 39% of buyers in 2022.

“If this year has taught us anything, it is that cash is king. Many times, because of their years of investment in real estate and the fact they are second- or third-time homebuyers, baby boomers have the ability to bring cash to the closing table, and it is giving them the market advantage,” Mainstreet CEO John Gormley said.