April Was Another Big Month For Chicago Home Sales
June 3rd, 2010 categories: Chicago Info/News, Economic Recovery, For Buyers, For Sellers, Housing Market
April marked the eighth straight month in which Chicago home sales showed an increase, according to the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. Housing industry analysts, though, are wondering if April’s big showing was largely the result of the impending expiration of the federal government’s home-buying tax credits.
Both the first-time homebuyers’ credit – which provided first-time buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 – and the move-up buyers’ credit – which gavemost other buyers a tax credit of up to $6,500 – expired at midnight on April 30. This has led economists and housing experts to wonder if buyers across the nation were in a race to beat this deadline.
And if that’s the case, they add, the housing sales numbers in May and beyond might suffer with no tax credit to inspire buyers.
Personally, I can’t deny that both tax credits have played a large role in encouraging buyers to enter the Chicago market. But I think that the city’s affordable housing prices have played as important a role. Buyers know that they can purchase a condominium or single-family home in even the best neighborhoods of Chicago, places like Lakeview, Lincoln Square or Lincoln Park, at extremely reasonable prices.
Whatever the case, you can’t deny that April’s sales numbers were strong ones. The sales of single-family homes and condominiums rose 41.1 percent in April when compared to the same month one year earlier. The city saw 1,985 housing sales in the month compared to 1,407 in April of 2009.
The best news is that housing sales have been trending up for quite some time now. April marked the eighth consecutive month in which housing sales showed a year-over-year sales gain.
At the same time, there was a glimmer of good news regarding Chicago housing prices. The city median sales price in April stood at $225,000. That’s up 3.2 percent from a year ago, when the median sales price had fallen to $218,000.
These are all solid numbers, and I’m glad to see them. I’m sure the tax credits did play a role in them. But I also think that buyers recognize just how good a value Chicago homes are today.
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U.S. pending home sales increased in April beyond expectations as purchasers signed contracts to receive a government tax credit. The National Association of Realtors’ index for pending sales of used homesrose by 6.0% to 110.9 in April, the industry group said Wednesday. The gain was the third in a row. Economists queried by Dow Jones Newswires had expected pending home sales would climb in April by 5.0%. First-time home-buyers struggled to beat the April 30 deadline for the tax credit. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said sales this spring seem as strong as those last fall, before the original expiration date.