Although winter can often be a slow time to sell a home in Chicago, this year shows a trend toward an increase in sales. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, a rise of 1.3 % in new-home sales for single family residences occurred in October, showing the best stats in new Chicago home sales activity since May. Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders said, “Builders have been seeing some marginal improvement in sales activity over the past few months, particularly in select markets where consumer confidence is higher due to improved economic conditions.”
This represents good news for Chicago home buyers as total home sales rose 22.2% in October, as compared to October, 2010. The news got even better in Chicago with homes sales in November, up another 20.4% from 2010 levels. In fact, almost 8,000 homes sold last month in Illinois, which was an increase of 14% from the same statistics from November of 2010.
The Illinois Association of Realtors reported last week that home sales increased throughout the state, with single-family residences and condominiums, totaling 7,954, an increase from the 6,966 homes sold in 2010. In just the Chicago area, home sales totaled 5,453 in 2011, rising above the 2010 level of 4,518.
