What Local Home Price Data Means for Chicago-Area Buyers
Over the last few years, Chicago’s housing market has gotten its fair share of media attention for lagging other major metro areas when it comes to home price appreciation. Chicagoland tends to be near the bottom of the 20-city S&P Case-Shiller report, charting more moderate gains than the cities along the coasts and the Sun Belt. Meanwhile, the UBS Global Cities Price Index recently identified Chicago as the most undervalued housing market of 25 major global cities.
Chicago’s relative affordability has, of course, been welcome news for home buyers. But recent home price data indicates that buyers who have been on the fence about purchasing a home in the area may have more incentive to make a move now.
According to an article in Crain’s this week, Chicago-area home prices are on the rise based on weekly reports from Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). In fact, there have been nine consecutive weeks of double-digit price gains compared to the same weeks in 2019.
Home price growth is largely being fueled by low inventory and record low mortgage interest rates, which hit a new low this week when the average on the 30-year fixed-rate fell to 2.81%. @properties co-founder Thad Wong also notes that recent data reflects the wave of buying activity that occurred after the Stay-At-Home period ended. Still, the upward trend should be a motivating factor, he says.
“One piece of advice we always give buyers and sellers is: don’t try to time the market. But if you’ve been considering buying, it’s certainly looking like a good time to take advantage of low interest rates to get into a home and start building equity,” said Wong.
Added @properties co-founder Mike Golden, “I think we’re looking at a great opportunity, and Chicagoans who buy in 2020 are going to look back in a few years and feel really good about the financial implications of that decision.”
For more information about home prices and other market conditions in your specific area, contact an @properties agent.
