Getting Real
Chicago Real Estate Market Update: Highest August Sales In 14 Years
market is still going strong.
While it’s true that the Chicago real estate market just had its highest August sales in 14 years there are a few caveats that go with that statement. First, you won’t be able to tell that from the graph below (all the August points are in red and there is a green, 12 month moving average line) because the August numbers aren’t yet finalized. When they are it will be more apparent but in the meantime we should compare 7th of the month numbers to previous 7th of the month numbers. On that basis August was 0.6% higher than last year, despite the fact that the Illinois Association of Realtors will report a 1.4% decline from last year because they no longer compare this the right way.
Second, last year is not really a great comparison because it got really weird with the pandemic. Therefore, it’s better to compare August to 2019 and on that basis sales were up 8.7%. That clearly bucked the downward trend we were on pre-pandemic but it’s more like a normal growth rate instead of the torrid growth pace we were on for a while. It looks like the real estate market is slowly returning to normal.
It also looks like condos continue to drive the growth in the market with attached home sales rising 13.5% from 2019 and detached home sales rising only 1%. I’m sure it’s the lack of inventory holding back detached home sales.
Chicago Home Contract Activity
You can get an early sense of where the Chicago real estate market is heading by tracking contract activity. In the graph below you can see that August activity was slightly lower than last year but still higher than all previous years – 14.5% higher than 2019. So we probably have at least one more month of fairly strong sales growth since contracts lead sales by a month or two.
Pending Home Sales
The number of homes under contract waiting to close gives us another indicator of what future sales might look like. Dropping 490 units in the last year, the pending home sales numbers are definitely pulling back from their recent highs but are still higher than 2018 and 2019. So, this source is not likely to fuel much in the way of future sales growth.
Distressed Home Sales
When you put in place a moratorium on foreclosures it should be no surprise that the number of foreclosures plummets. Consequently, the decline in the percentage of home sales that are distressed has continued to levels that probably would not have been possible otherwise. August only had 1.4% distressed sales compared to 3.4% last year.
Chicago Home Inventory
Inventory remains a challenge for home buyers. The graph below is still based upon my own calculations of months of supply of homes for sale. Both attached and detached home inventory is tight but it’s not as tight as it has been and the normal seasonal patterns have totally disintegrated with the pandemic. We’re actually seeing more detached homes coming on the market right now when, normally, there would be fewer. There are in fact fewer condos on the market lately though. The net result was a 2.1 month supply of detached homes and a 3.6 month supply of attached homes. Those are record lows for August.
Chicago Home Sale Market Times
And homes are selling incredibly fast still. You can see how the average market time for detached homes hit a record low of only 39 days with half the homes selling in 14 days or less. Attached homes sold on average in 68 days, which is the same as last year, but half of those homes sold in 30 days or less. Interestingly, last August half the attached homes sold in only 23 days.
#RealEstate #ChicagoRealEstate #Coronavirus
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.
Welcome to ChicagoNow.
Getting Real On Facebook
Subscribe To Getting Real
Meet The Blogger
Gary Lucido
After 20 years in the corporate world and running an Internet company, Gary started Lucid Realty with his partner, Sari. The company provides full service, while discounting commissions for sellers and giving buyers rebates.
Recent posts
Chicago Real Estate Market Update: Highest August Sales In 14 Years »
Case Shiller: Chicago Area 32+ Year Record Home Price Growth Still Lags Nation »
2020 Cook County And Chicago Property Tax Rates Explained »
How Much Longer Will Chicago Foreclosure Activity Remain Depressed? »
Chicago’s Safest And Most Dangerous Neighborhoods 2021: Assault & Battery »
Featured Posts
How Realtor’s Lie To Get Your Business
The #1 Myth About Selling Your Home
The #2 Myth About Selling Your Home
Tags
market conditions (556)
Chicago home prices (227)
Case Shiller index (144)
Chicago foreclosures (130)
industry issues (91)
Chicago monthly real estate market update (83)
real estate agents (66)
Chicago real estate market (64)
foreclosures (60)
Neighborhood news (56)
Monthly Archives
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
Blogroll
Crib Chatter
Real Estate Decoded
Smart Mortgage Advice
The Real Deal – Chicago
Latest on ChicagoNow
Monoclonal antibodies vs Ivermectin: It’s a life choice
posted today at 10:55 am
Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Kevin Made hits a grand slam; Yonathan Perlaza hits 13th HR; Jason Adam returns to game action in ACL
posted today at 8:56 am
To be a long haul performer; or, if we build it we can thrive
posted today at 8:43 am
No. 4 Montana offers big test for improving Leathernecks
posted today at 5:36 am
Book Review: SOCIAL WARMING and the Effects of Social Media
posted Tuesday at 8:08 pm
Posts from related blogs
Real Estate Royalty
Most recent post: A Wicker Park Wonder and a Tribute to Helmut Jahn
North Shore Real Estate Chatter
Most recent post: What You Need to Know About Earnest Money
MCwriting
Most recent post: Travel in a “Post-Covid-19” World and How Businesses are Preparing for it
More from Lifestyle: Real Estate
Read these ChicagoNow blogs
Cubs Den
Pets in need of homes
Hammervision
Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers
Carole Kuhrt Brewer
Dennis Byrne
LeaGrover
About ChicagoNow
•
FAQs
•
Advertise
•
Recent posts RSS
•
Privacy policy (Updated)
•
Comment policy
•
Terms of service
•
Chicago Tribune Archives
•
Do not sell my personal info
©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team