The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin Metro was ranked as the number one metropolitan area for corporate relocations in 2014, according to Site Selection magazine. The hundreds of national and multinational companies that have either expanded to or relocated to Chicago have created over 21,000 jobs locally. And many companies including Kraft Heinz, Hillshire Brands and Walgreens, to name a few, have chosen to expand or relocate its headquarters to downtown Chicago. This has resulted in a number of Realtor® job opportunities as well.
In fact, the number of single family and condo home sales in the City surged 5.2 percent to 2,358 units in September 2015. The median price, however, rose slightly to reach $250,000, a 0.4 percent increase from the previous year. “With increased sales and even stronger median price numbers, the Chicago market still shows a lot of life as we enter the last few months of the year,” said Dan Wagner, president, Chicago Association of REALTORS®.
Similar gains were posted in the nine-county Chicago Metropolitan Primary Statistical Area which saw a 5.3 percent increase in the number of homes sold in September. The median price was $207,570, an increase of 6.4 percent from last year. “The fall housing market has shown little sign that there’s any significant weakening in demand,” said Mike Drews, GRI, president, Illinois Association of REALTORS®. While DuPage County had the highest increase in the number of home sales in the region with an 8.5 percent gain, the biggest increase in home prices was in Cook County with a 7.6 percent increase to $215,000.
Real estate agents are selling homes faster despite tight inventory. Homes were on the market for an average of sixty-four days in Illinois in September. That’s five days less than the previous year.
Mortgage rates remain at historic lows and were 3.9 percent in September, down from 4.16 percent a year ago.
Still, some are forecasting a seasonal slowdown during the winter months. Any slowdown may be short lived, however, as tight inventory and more corporate relocations to the region could continue to push home sales and prices higher.
photo credit: Steven Vance via photopin (license)
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