Chicago’s housing market fared better than others in 2022

A soft landing during the slowdown follows a low-altitude flight during the residential real estate boom in Chicago.

The Chicago area’s housing market held up relatively well in 2022 as higher interest rates brought other markets down to Earth.

The time it took to sell a home went up by just 3.64 percent year-over-year since the end of 2021. It was a remarkably modest increase compared to rapidly cooling markets like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, where median days on the market jumped by 31.25 percent, 40 percent and 58.7 percent, respectively, according to data from Realtor.com.

As a result, the Windy City managed to avoid the massive pileup of inventory that hit other markets across the country. The stock of for-sale homes in the Chicago area increased by just 5.24 percent year-over-year from 2021. The median listing price also ticked up slightly over the same period.

But the main reason the Chicago area hasn’t suffered the same downfall as other housing markets is likely the fact that it never flew so high to begin with. While other major markets saw bidding wars that drove up prices far above asks last year, the median sale price of homes in and around Chicago has consistently remained below the median list price.