It might have been one of the coldest Aprils in the region’s recorded history, but home sales in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago area took a turn to the warmer side last month. Overcoming chilly temperatures and a continued shortage of homes listed for sale, April generated a +3.2% sales increase over April 2017, according to a RE/MAX analysis, and that came after declines of -6.4% in the first quarter of this year and -8.7% in March alone.

Home sales for the metro area totaled 10,404 units in April, up from 10,078 a year earlier. It was the highest level of April sales recorded since 2006. The median sales price gained +2.9% to $252,000, and the average time a home sold in April spent on the market before going under contract declined to 80 days from 90 in April 2017.

“While the number of homes for sale in the Chicago area continues to trail last year’s total, the gap got smaller in April,” said Jeff LaGrange, Vice President of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois Region. “The end-of-April inventory of homes for sale was -5.1% lower than the prior April, but that’s better than the -8.8% difference we saw in March. We’d love to see that trend continue.”

LaGrange noted that the improvement in the inventory situation was occurring in the attached-home segment of the market where the listing inventory was up +3.3%. In contrast, the inventory of detached homes for sale was -8.2% lower than it had been 12 months earlier. However, LaGrange pointed out that even the detached inventory picture is something of an improvement over first-quarter results, where the year-over-year decline was -11.9%.

Sales data used by RE/MAX is collected by MRED, the regional multiple listing service. It covers detached and attached homes in the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. Detached homes are typically stand-alone single-family dwellings. Attached homes include condominium and cooperative apartments along with townhouses.

Total April home sales were up in all seven metro counties, as well as in Chicago.  Sales rose +3.2% in Cook, +5.1% in DuPage, +6% in Kane, +1.3% in Kendall, +0.8% in Lake, +4.6% in McHenry and +0.8% in Will. Chicago sales gained +2.1%.

Median prices were also up across the board, gaining +2.6% in Cook, +6.1% in DuPage, +2.9% in Kane, +6.9% in Kendall, +4.2% in Lake, +3.6% in McHenry and +3% in Will. The increase in Chicago was +4%.

Detached-Home Sales

Sales of detached homes gained +2.2% in the metro area in April, with 6,423 homes changing hands, compared to 6,287 in April of last year. The median sales price was $275,000, a gain of +5%, and average market time fell from 104 days a year earlier to 91 days this April.

Sales rose in five counties and in Chicago, while the median sales price rose in all seven counties and in Chicago. Sales activity increases were strongest in Kendall, up +6.1%, and Chicago, up +7.9%. Other gains ranged from +4.2% in Kane to +1.2% in McHenry.

Increases in median sales price varied from a high of +7.1% in Kendall to +2.9% in DuPage. The listing inventory at the end of April was 20,457 units, equivalent to a 3.2-month supply based on the pace of April sales.

Attached-Home Sales

Total sales of attached homes equaled 3,981 units in April, an increase of +5% over the same month last year. Of that total, 69% were in Cook County, and Chicago alone accounted for 42.1%.

The inventory of attached homes at the end of April was 8,628 units, equal to just a 2.2- month supply, a situation that should continue to encourage new construction, according to LaGrange.

Sales activity rose in six counties led by a gain of +18.9% in McHenry. Cook County sales rose +3.5% though Chicago sales were down -1.1%. The only county with lower sales was Kendall, which had a -10.6% decline. Other results were gains of +11.7% in Kane, +10.4% in Will, +8.5% in DuPage and +4.3% in Lake.

Six counties had a higher median price, while Cook was unchanged. Gains were +10.8% in McHenry, +8.6% in Kane, +7.6%, in Will, +7.5% in Kendall, +6.9% in DuPage and +4.8% in Lake.  The Chicagomedian rose +3%.

RE/MAX Northern Illinois has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 providing a full range of residential and commercial services. With more than 2,200 sales associates and 106 offices throughout the area, RE/MAX Northern Illinois has helped thousands of families with their home buying and selling needs. For more information, visit illinoisproperty.com or download the Illinois Property mobile real estate app.