Chicago Home Sales Continued Decline Last Year

Chicago’s shrinking housing market left homebuyers paying more for less last year.

More than 22,000 homes sold in Chicago last year, marking a 1.6 percent decline from 2023, Crain’s reported, citing Illinois Realtors.

Meanwhile, roughly 88,400 homes traded hands in Chicago’s nine-county metro area, which includes Cook, Lake, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties.

Sales in the metro area decreased 1.3 percent compared to the year before.

The figures mark the lowest sales numbers since the aftermath of the 2007-2012 housing meltdown.

The income needed to buy a home surged to record levels.

Chicago’s median home price reached $355,000, up 7.6 percent from the year before. In the nine-county metro area, the median home price was up 7.9 percent, rising to $350,000. These figures underscore the struggles buyers faced navigating a highly competitive market.

The disparity between last year’s sales figures and the pandemic-era peak in 2021 further illustrates the housing market’s decline. During the peak, about 33,250 homes sold in Chicago and 138,100 sold in the metro area. By comparison, last year’s figures reflect decreases of 33.6 percent in the city and 36 percent percent metro-wide.

Even against the pre-pandemic five-year average, sales were down significantly — 19.8 percent in the city and 24.7 percent in the metro area.

The last two months of the year brought some renewed optimism. Almost 9,500 homes went under contract in the four weeks ending Dec. 2, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. That represents the largest increase in homes under contract since 2021.

During this four-week period, Homes spent an average of 41 days on the market, up four days from November 2023.

— Andrew Terrell