ChitownLiving | Chicago Real Estate + Life

Chicago real estate market statistics for January are now available.  Year over year data is now available which is fantastic as trends can now be viewed over the long term. Still a healthy amount of inventory out there, 10,775 units, about a 7.2 month supply.  January showed 4,138 new units coming onto the market as opposed to 3,957 in January 2006, a slight 4.5% increase.  Properties sold in January totaled 1,089 as opposed to 1,155 in January 2006, a slight 5.7% decrease.  This is not surprising given the slowdown in transactions in the 4th quarter of 2007.  Healthy inventory levels should make for a buyer market through 2007. Throughout January and into early February, it looks like the number of listings going under contract is increasing in relation to available inventory as shown by an Available to Under Contract ratio of 2.22, down from 2.53 in early January.  We will have to see if the trend continues as new listings should increase moving forward.  It remains to be seen if buyers come out to absorb this new inventory or if they continue to sit on the sidelines. Average and median prices for both attached (condo, townhouse) and detached (single family) properties have remained fairly flat and up in some cases.  The median price for an attached property was $315,000 in January versus $281,400 in January 2006, an increase of 11.9%.  For detached properties, median prices did trend down slightly from $530,000 in January 2006 to $520,000 in January 2007, only down 1.8%.  Basic message is that large price declines across the board have not occurred. Buyers, start your engines! Check the Market Stats page to view the charts.