Home sales were up more than 20 percent in Chicago for the third quarter.

Year-over-year home sales for the Chicagoland area rose 20.2 percent in the third quarter, according to new data from the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR).

Up by more than 3,000 units, the city’s impressive gains were mirrored by Illinois on the whole, which posted a 19.9 percent Q3 increase from 24,719 sales to 29,644.

Despite recent in pricing, though, yearly prices did post declines for both the state and city. The state’s third quarter median home sale price was $145,500, down 4.9 percent from 2010, while the nine-county city’s was $174,500, down 7.5 percent from $188,666 in the third quarter of 2010. The city of Chicago median price in the third quarter, though, was up 2.6 percent to $198,000, from $193,000 in 2010

Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois, said the downward trend in prices may have influenced higher demand.

“While median prices continue to trend downwards, there is some indication of increased demand as inventory levels in certain price ranges have been shrinking,” Hewings said . “In the third quarter, 64.1 percent of homes were sold in the price range under $200,000.”

Loretta Alonzo, the president of the IAR, seconded Hewings’ statement on demand, saying that a pent-up desire for homeownership drove sales.

“Sales growth in the third quarter is due in part to significant pent-up demand from homebuyers waiting on the sidelines of this economy’s slow recovery,” Alonzo said. “Given the historically low mortgage interest rates, it’s a good time to do a comparable analysis for those looking to get away from rising rents with these affordability conditions.”

And pent-up demand, according to new data from JPMorgan Chase, may be the ultimate catalyst for a housing recovery.

Click here for full third quarter data from the IAR.