Low Housing Inventory Raising Prices in Chicagoland

Home sellers seeing higher prices as availability remains low

The Chicagoland real estate market has been seeing declining inventory since the start of the year. Currently, there is a 4.1 month supply of housing. Anything between 3-6 months would be considered stable and we're right at the low end of that.

Buyer demand in the Chicagoland market continues to outpace the availability of homes for sale. As the demand increases and supply decreases, prices rise as a result.

National housing inventory is at 4 months so we're right there with the trend. This marks 18 straight months of decline.

Median home prices in Chicagoland for the month of December were at $222,825, up 6.1% from last year.

NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun had this to say:

"Existing housing supply at the beginning of the year was inadequate and is now even worse heading into 2017. Rental units are also seeing this shortage. As a result, both home prices and rents continue to far outstrip incomes in much of the country."

The good news is this means homeowners are starting to realize some positive equity situations. This also means that as a home seller, your ability to sell your home and move up to that dream home is more feasible now. Listing your home for sale in the winter months attracts serious buyers who are generally looking for a quicker close.

This article was originally posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 at kombrink.com.