The folks over at ChicagoNow crunched the numbers on the Chicago housing market for September and the results were mixed. Home sales were down a notable 7.2% as compared to the previous year, but there was a slight uptick in signed contracts and pending home sales, which indicates things are likely to pick up in the coming months.
Despite the mixed signals, ChicagoNow proclaimed the market as being “fundamentally strong” and things should hold steady as the year progresses. Perhaps the biggest indicator of this is that home’s that are actually selling aren’t on the market for long. In fact, the number of days it takes a home to sell in Chicago is currently at historic lows. Detached, single-family homes are selling in an average of 78 days, while condos and townhomes are selling in just 72 days.
Here are the numbers on home contract activity and pending home sales:
In September, the number of home contracts in Chicago actually increased by 1.4%. This would indicate sales should pick up this fall, as it typically takes 1 to 2 months for a home under contract to close. After several months of declines, it was also good to see the number of pending home sales finally increased in September. However, that number (1.8 months) also remains historically low. Just last spring, there were more than 4 months worth of pending home sales in Chicago.
The Chicago housing market still has plenty of room for growth, but it’s probably also a good thing that things have stabilized somewhat after years of rapid price appreciation and low inventory. Still, it probably remains a seller’s market at this point and there’s no reason to think that will change anytime soon.