The blustery Chicago winter we have all come to know so well usually keeps people inside and bundled up for the first few months of the year. Luckily for those who love the outdoors, this January greeted Chicago with an unusually warm spell, and the housing market has benefitted as a result. The past two months are the perfect example of the housing market as a whole of the past year. December was a less than stellar month for the market, and sales seemed to drop with the freezing temperatures. While December was a down month, January is the complete opposite. This month homes are selling faster than they have in any January in the previous 10 years.
With these increased numbers, one would think that there is a surplus of inventory. However, the reality is quite the opposite as inventories are still tight across the board in Chicago. As the warmer weather moved in, more potential buyers were out and about looking at homes on the market. By getting out and house hunting in January, most buyers are getting a head start on the large increase in buyers that always accompanies the spring and summer months. This increased foot traffic around Chicago was one of the contributing factors to the increase in sales, but it was not the only factor.
In January 2016 it took an average of 79 days to sell a home in Illinois, but this month homes are selling roughly 10 days early at an average of 69 days per sale. These numbers are the product of a few factors including an increased number of contracts and a decreased amount of time a home spends on the market.
We have seen a trend in Illinois over the past few months of home prices returning to where they were before the housing bubble. Chicago is on its way to getting back to those prices with a 12.4% increase from January 2016 to January 2017.
The Chicago housing market is looking to be stronger in 2017 than it has been in the past few years, especially with such a strong start out of the gate in January. Properties are being bought at an alarming rate, which is driving the prices and interest rates up. The upward trend of price and interest rate is something we will most likely see continue into the peak of buying season this spring.
