H
ome sales and available inventory continued to decline in Chicago and across Illinois last month, while prices rose. According to Illinois Realtors, year-over-year home sales dropped 12% from September 2023's 1,867 deals to 1,643 last month. Inventory decreased by 9%, with just 5,254 homes for sale in the city compared to 5,768 a year ago.

    The market trends can be attributed to an oversupply of downtown condos and an undersupply of single-family homes in surrounding neighborhoods, said Mario Greco, founder of The MG Group. Despite this, the need to buy and sell was evident in the decrease of days on market and increase in median sales price, noted Erika Villegas, Chicago Association of Realtors president.

    In the nine-county Chicago Metro Area, home sales dropped 10% year-over-year, but inventory increased by 5%. Statewide trends were similar, with an 8.5% drop in home sales and a 6% increase in available homes. Inventory is higher than last year due to longer selling times, said Greco, citing uncertainty caused by recent policy changes, the election, and mortgage rates.

    Affordability remains a concern for buyers, but experts predict it will ease as inventory increases and mortgage rates come down. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate was 6.18% in September, down from 7.20% last year. A forecast expects statewide closed sales to be 6% lower this quarter compared to last year, with single-family home prices increasing by nearly 14% by the end of the year.

    The median home price in Chicago rose 7.7% year-over-year to $350,000, while the statewide median was $290,000, a 7.4% increase from last year's median.