Community Corner

McHenry County Sees Robust Home Sales in November

RE/MAX analysis finds home sale trend continues with strong sales and pricing.

 

November generated the same robust home sales activity with higher prices that characterized the metro Chicago real estate market in October with large gains in McHenry County, according to RE/MAX.

November sales of attached and detached homes in the seven-county area totaled 7,500 units, which is 37 percent more than in November 2011, based on an analysis of transaction data compiled by Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC (MRED), the regional multiple listing service.

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Sales activity was up uniformly across all seven counties when compared to year-earlier results. The largest gain was in McHenry County, where 369 sales were closed and a 53 percent increase experienced. DuPage County had a 51 percent increase, with 897 units sold. Results for the other counties were as follows: Cook, 4,191 units, up 32 percent; Kane, 523 units, up 35 percent; Kendall, 175 units, up 37 percent; Lake, 707 units, up 38 percent; and Will, 638 units, up 40 percent.

The median sales price was $155,000, up 3.3 percent from the $150,000 median price recorded 12 months earlier. Average market time, which is the average number of days a home sold in November was on the market before a sales contract was signed, fell from 170 days in November 2011 to 136 days in November 2012.

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“Stronger home sales, higher home prices and the accelerated disposition of foreclosed homes support consumer confidence and the belief that the economy has turned the corner,” said Laura Ortoleva, media spokesperson for the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network.

Four of the seven counties recorded increases in the median sales price. Gains were achieved in Cook (up 7 percent to $150,100), DuPage (up 5 percent to $195,000), Lake (up 4 percent to $158,000) and Will (up 3 percent to $157,750). Prices slipped in Kane (down 5 percent to $137,500), Kendall (down 10 percent to $151,500) and McHenry (down 13 percent to $130,000).

The analysis also found:

  • Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) totaled 3,227 units in November, a 36 percent increase over the prior year. These properties accounted for 43 percent of all November transactions in the seven-county area, up from 42 percent in October. The median sales price of a distressed home rose 6 percent to $90,000, compared to $84,950 in November of last year.
  • Attached-home sales volume climbed in all seven counties led by a 95 percent gain in McHenry County, where 78 units changed hands. In Kane County sales volume was up 32 percent in Kane to 107 units.
  • The median price of attached homes rose 7 percent in Cook County to $133,151. It was unchanged in Lake County at $110,000. However, the median price declined in the five other counties. It dipped 4 percent in Kane and McHenry counties.
  • Average market times in November for attached units ranged from a high of 185 days in DuPage to a low of 89 days in McHenry, where it had been 237 days a year earlier.
  • Detached sales registered strong increases in all six of the collar counties, rising 45 percent in McHenry (291 units) and 36 percent in Kane (416 units) relative to the sales levels of November 2011.
  • The median sales price of detached homes in November was higher in five of the seven counties. Prices rose in DuPage, Cook, Lake, Will and Kane where it was up 2 percent to $157,500.  The median price declined 11 percent in Kendall to $175,000 and fell 10 percent in McHenry to $150,000.


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