The pace of home-price growth rose nationally but with significant regional differences.

Last month, the median sale price for a detached home in Chicagoland hit $450,000, compared to $420,000 last year.

Buyers are reportedly looking for homes that reflect how they actually live, not how they could be living.

Nationally, home sales in the 46 metro areas surveyed by REMAX rose 2.5% year over year and slipped 5.7% month over month. 

Active buyers are looking for more expensive homes, while price-constrained buyers are looking at fewer homes altogether.

Of the 50 metro areas surveyed by NAR, several stood out for year-over-year gains in contract signings. 

The move was an improvement over July, but sentiment still remained in negative territory. 

Looking ahead, Cotality expects the median price of a home to increase 1.5% through June 2027. 

Three years after the opening of a large center, ZIP codes retained 66% of their pre-opening active listings, compared to 43% in similar areas without a data center.

Nationally, home-price growth topped 1% for the first time in 2026.

Single-family home sales were up 4.8% year over year, while attached home sales rose 1.8%. 

The same trends were seen in the city of Chicago and across Illinois. 

The U.S. housing market is expected to see slower home price growth in 2026, but a persistent shortage of homes continues to shape market conditions, according to new reports from Realtor.com and Zillow.  Realtor.com’s 2026 Forecast Midyear Update report

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 homes topped Wall Street’s estimates. 

Buyers in the Chicagoland area continue to face a tight housing market, with active listings in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro falling 7.8% year over year in June, according to Realtor.com. Fewer homes were also hitting the market each week, as

Curb appeal is important to today’s homeowners — that is, they want the exteriors of their homes to appeal to their own preferences and sensibilities rather than those of potential buyers.