Chicago area median home sale prices ticked up in May, reaching the highest level since June 2008, just before the full force of the recession hit.
The new figure for median prices stood at $256,000, a 2.8 percent increase from April, according to a RE/MAX housing report cited by Chicago Agent Magazine.
Jeff LaGrange of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois region said there is a shortage of homes priced below $550,000.
Because of the lack “of entry-level and moderately priced homes, it’s really a tale of two markets,” he told Chicago Agent.
Based on the pace of sales in May, there’s a four-month supply of homes for sale for less than $550,000. But there’s as much as a 25-month supply of homes for sale above that amount.
In all, some 12,186 homes were sold in the seven-county Chicago metro region in May, down 1.2 percent year over year.
The average time on the market was 71 days, down 8 percent from 77 days year over year. [Chicago Agent] — John O’Brien