New data from Mainstreet REALTORS® shows homes under contract increased year over year in May, with pending sales rising 4.7% for detached homes and 7.1% for attached homes.

At the same time, the Chicago market also saw a 10.5% increase in new listings, placing it among the metros with the strongest year-over-year growth in seller activity.

The increase was driven by refinancing activity as purchase applications dipped. 

Existing-home sales and the median home price are forecast to rise 4% this year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. 

Starter homes now cost $1 million or more in a record 242 cities, up from just 80 in 2020, according to a Zillow analysis.

The 3.8% month-over-month gain was almost four times what industry observers were expecting. 

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Inventory rose 3.3% month over month and 0.6% year over year to 1.55 million homes, which equals a 4.5-month supply of unsold inventory, NAR said. 

Nationwide, it takes six years to break even on homeownership, down from an all-time high of 8.4 years in 2023.

Amid what Realtor.com called the most active spring in years, the housing market is finding a new equilibrium.

Looking ahead, Cotality expects home prices to rise 5.3% between April 2026 and April 2027. 

The median sales price of new homes sold in April rose 8% to $422,500 from $391,100 in March, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.

Suburban Chicago home prices continued to climb in April as overall sales activity slowed from a year ago, according to Mainstreet REALTORS®. 

Home prices continued to rise across the country in March, but the rate of increase slowed yet again, according to the latest S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index. 

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The pace of closed sales is only expected to increase through the summer, Illinois REALTORS® said.