April 2012 Housing Market Roundup

Overall, April was a good month for Illinois home sales.  Based on data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), 9,961 homes sold statewide in April.  This a 15.7% increase from April 2011.  The median sales price was $135,000, an increase of $5,000 from March 2012.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (the CPMSA) to include the following counties:  Cook, Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Will, Kane, Kendall, DeKalb, and Grundy.  In those counties, 6,814 homes were sold in April 2012.  That’s nearly a 20% increase from last April.  However, the median sales price went down to $160,000, which is a 1.5% decrease from last April.  That’s not to say everyone of the counties in the CPMSA saw a price drop.  From April 2011, sales prices in DuPage, Kane and Kendall Counties increased around 10%. 

Sales prices in Chicago also increased close to 10% when compared to April of 2011.  Moreover, 1,750 home sales were reported in Chicago in April 2012, a whopping 20% increase over April 2011.

Moreover, sales where MLS services were not utilized (such as for sale by owner homes) are not even included in these numbers.  There’s a possibility that the numbers would look even better if private sales figures were available.

So April looked good overall when compared to last year.  Here’s looking to more increases this summer!