Third Quarter Ends on High Note, Marking Eighth Consecutive Month of Growth for Chicago Suburban Housing Market

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – November was the last full month before the Fed’s Dec. 16 interest rate increase, but Lynn Madison, president of Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® (MORe) and owner of Lynn Madison Seminars, believes that the hike will not lead to an increased mortgage rate for suburban homebuyers.

“The interest rate hike will affect the psychology of the marketplace before it affects the actual long-term mortgage rates,” said Madison. “The rate increase doesn’t always equate to an immediate long-term mortgage rate increase. Other factors – easing of credit, unemployment being down, low inflation – point to no immediate mortgage rate increase.”

Homebuyers are nevertheless urged to act soon rather than later, said Madison. Any rate hike, when combined with rising prices, could significantly increase payments.

As MORe monitors the housing market to see how it responds to the rate announcement, the numbers from the last month are promising.

The number of detached single-family houses sold year-to-date rose by 9.6 percent in November throughout Chicago’s suburban housing market, as shown in statistics released by MORe. The average sales price and median sales price also increased year-to-date, reflecting a 7.1 percent and 5.6 percent improvement respectively.

The average market time for houses also decreased by 6.5 percent, while the median sales price of homes sold in November increased by 11.8 percent month-to-date, according to data provided by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC.

“We’re not seeing the kind of dramatic seasonal slowdown that we’ve seen in years past,” said Madison. “The median sales price has stayed up over last year in almost every municipality we cover. Sales are still up over last year.”

Madison noted that improvement in the LaGrange area was particularly impressive. “LaGrange saw a 75 percent increase in houses under contract in November, a 100 percent increase in LaGrange Highlands and an improvement of more than 260 percent in LaGrange Park,” said Madison. “This, along with a year-to-date increase over last year of 24 percent in LaGrange and slightly less in the other two markets, reflects a steady market.”

Other suburban communities in MORe’s region – which includes about 200 communities in DuPage, Lake and suburban Cook counties – that saw a notable increase in the number of houses sold in November include Arlington Heights (83.3 percent), Elk Grove Village (58.3 percent), Buffalo Grove (42.1 percent), Burbank (36.8 percent), Calumet City (25.9 percent) and Naperville (24.7 percent).

If you would like to see the numbers for a specific community that MORe serves, please contact Amy Robey at amy@succeedwithmore.com or (630) 386-0087.