CHICAGO- The state's residential housing market continues to improve and has now posted monthly year-over-year gains since July 2011, according to new data released by the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. The trade group announced yesterday that a total of 10,992 homes were sold in March, an increase of 13.6 percent over the previous March. A total of 8,213 homes were sold in February. Furthermore, the median price for homes was $135,000, up 3.6 percent from the previous March.

“We are entering what is traditionally the busiest period of the year in the real estate market," says Michael D. Oldenettel, president of the association and managing broker and owner with RE/MAX Results Plus in Jacksonville. "The decreasing time it takes to sell a home, coupled with shrinking inventories shows there is keen interest on the part of homebuyers who are rushing to lock in favorable interest rates and take advantage of low, but increasing prices."

Buyers and sellers in most regions were more active. In the nine counties that comprise the Chicago metropolitan area, for example, a total of 7,914 homes were sold, an increase of 18.1 percent over the previous March. And city of Chicago homebuyers closed on 1,894 homes, an increase of 13.8 percent.

Foreclosures remain a concern but there are some signs the problem has begun to moderate.

“The inventory in both the state and Chicago markets suggest that demand has begun to return to the housing market,” says Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois. “However, foreclosed properties are accounting for a sizeable portion of these sales. The good news is that foreclosed sales are outpacing new additions to the foreclosure inventory but at a cost of dampening median price increases.”

According to RealtyTrac Inc.'s monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, Illinois posted the nation's third highest state foreclosure rate over the first quarter of the year. However, it decreased 2 percent from the previous quarter and was down 5 percent from the previous year, company data show. The first quarter decrease followed four quarters with annual increases.

The median price of a Chicago home last month was $187,500, up 9.0 percent from March 2012. Condo prices saw gains and increased 9.3 percent to $235,000.

“It is an excellent time for sellers to move their homes quickly, if priced well in what's fast become a thriving market,” says Zeke Morris, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and operating principal and managing broker of Keller Williams Realty, CCG. “The city's housing inventory in March was down 45 percent compared to the same time last year. Data tells us that buyers are taking advantage of this period when homes are still priced attractively and interest rates are low, concerned that it might not last. This creates an urgency among buyers that is promising for sellers ready to act.”

Instant Insights /

State Homebuyers Increase Pace

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