I’ll take it: Chicago-area signed contracts soar past record

More than 18,750 Chicago-area homes went into contract in March, a record-setting number amid a supercharged residential market.

It was the highest monthly total since Midwest Real Estate Data began tracking the category 13 years ago, according to Crain’s. The previous high was 14,200 contracts signed in June.

The runaway record was attributed in part to low mortgage rates and homebuyers’ increasing desire for more space outside the city.

Andrea Leu of the brokerage @properties said the flood of deals has “been like a frenzy, and it’s exhausting,” according to the report.

The hot housing market began last August, when 13,360 homes sold across nine counties, representing a near 20 percent year-over-year increase.

As of December, there were enough homes listed to sustain just 1.8 months worth of sales, according to MRED. Itt was the lowest inventory since figures were first tracked in January 2008. Generally, a four- to six-month supply of homes on the market notes a functioning market.

January saw homes in 30 suburbs sell in half the amount of time it took for homes that sold in the first month of 2020.

In late February, the former CEO of General Dynamics and his wife relisted their 13,000-square-foot Lake Forest mansion for $6.5 million. The couple had pulled it from the market in June 2020, during what was a low point for home sales.

[Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman