Chicago area homes selling faster than in recent years: report

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The average Chicago-area home sold in 84 days in the past year, the shortest amount of market time in at least five years.

That’s a 6 percent year-over-year decrease in the amount of time a house spent on the market, Crain’s reported, citing data from Re/Max of Barrington owner Paul Wells. The analysis accounted for the 12-month period ending Nov. 1.

Single-family homes were on the market an average of 92 days in 2017, 98 days in 2016, 104 days in 2015 and 98 days in 2014, according to Midwest Real Estate Data covering sales in 20 northeastern Illinois counties.

Wells told Crain’s the combination of low inventory of homes for sale and rising interest rates has made buyers “ready to grab the good ones when they come on the market.”

The inventory of homes for sale has been tight for several reasons, including the high number of people who are underwater on their mortgages and can’t put their homes on the market.

And the average rate on a 30-year mortgage recently hit a seven-year high of nearly 5 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

While houses might be selling faster, the total number of homes sold has dropped in Illinois, with the average sale price ticking up. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien