Chicago Home Prices Are Rising, But Not Unsteadily

Like much of the rest of the country, the Chicago metro area is seeing rapid and positive price growth for homes, but at a slower climb than smaller metro areas.

The median home price for the Chicago primary metropolitan statistical area was $270,000 in February, a 12.5% increase from February 2020, according a report from the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, published on March 22. For the entire state of the Illinois, the median home price was lower at $226,983, a 14.1% increase compared to the prior February.

In both the Chicago metro area and in the state of Illinois, fewer homes were sold in February compared to the year before, according to the report. A contributing factor to both fewer sales and rising prices is the inventory of homes on the market is currently very low – as many homeowners aren't interested in selling now, and construction of new homes isn't keeping up with the number of new buyers on the market.

- Report from US News’ Devin Thornsby