Chicago Home Prices Keep Climbing as Sales Volume Hits Low

Chicago’s housing market is defying the national slowdown, with prices rising faster than in most of the country, even as sales volume plunged to the lowest August levels since 2011.

The median home price in the city hit $378,000 in August, up 5.9 percent year-over-year, according to Illinois Realtors. Across the nine-county metro, the median reached $375,000, up 5.6 percent. The national median was $422,600, a 2 percent bump, according to National Association of Realtors data first reported by Crain’s.

The Case-Shiller Index confirmed the trend, showing July values in the region up 6.23 percent from a year earlier, compared with just 1.68 percent nationwide.

That makes Chicago an outlier. Price growth here has stayed above 6 percent every month this year, and increased from June (6.09 percent) to July (6.23 percent) while nationally the rate has fallen by more than half since January. Half of the 30 major metros covered by the index had lower price growth in July than in June. The Illinois Realtors data comprises Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

The surge means equity gains and rising housing wealth for sellers and homeowners.

But for buyers, the math is tough. August sales in the city totaled just 1,920 homes, down nearly 10 percent from a year earlier and the weakest August since the post-crash recovery of 2011. Metro-wide sales dropped 4.3 percent to 8,395, also the lowest since 2011. By contrast, sales ticked up nationally 1.8 percent year-over-year, according to NAR.

Meanwhile, contract cancellations are on the rise. Sixteen percent of pending agreements in Chicago were canceled, a slight increase from last year and consistent with national trends showing the highest July cancellation rates since 2017.

The squeeze comes from a familiar combo: elevated mortgage rates and thin inventory. Homeowners who might otherwise trade up are staying put, wary of locking in higher borrowing costs and higher prices. That keeps listings scarce, pushing buyers to pay more for the limited homes available.

Chicago’s unusual position — leading the nation in price gains while trailing badly in sales volume — is like a split personality in the market. Sellers are in a strong spot on paper, but deals are drying up. Chicago-area home sales in August were down year-over-year 0.8 percent.

— Eric Weilbacher