Chicago home prices hit record high amid strong demand

Buyers are paying more than ever for homes in the Chicago area, signaling strong demand even as mortgage rates remain high.

The median price for homes sold in Chicagoland last month reached $350,000, just over the previous high of $349,000, set in June of last year, Crain’s reported, citing data from Illinois Realtors. 

The median price for home sales in the city limits stood at $370,000 in April, tying the record from exactly two years ago. 

The spike in prices can be attributed to a combination of strong demand and minimal inventory. Chicago area home prices steadily rose last year as well, despite demand being stymied by elevated mortgage rates, which contributed to annual sales falling by 20 percent. 

However, a surge in home showings to start the year hinted that more buyers and sellers were ready to brave the high mortgage-rate environment. 

The metro’s median home price in April equated to a 9.4 percent year-over-year increase. While robust, that’s the smallest rise in the past four months, with January and February seeing over 10 percent jumps from a year prior. 

Prices rose by 8.8 percent year-over-year in the city, marking the largest increase since November 2021, when prices were up 10.8 percent amid low interest rates and the post-pandemic housing boom. 

There were just over 8,000 home sales in the metro last month, up 5 percent year-over-year. But that’s still significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, when April sales typically hovered around 10,000. 

In Chicago, transactions jumped 5.5 percent from April 2023, when sales volume hit an 11-year low, excluding April 2020, a month when the pandemic practically froze the housing market, the outlet reported. 

—Quinn Donoghue

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