Statewide Median Price at $192,500

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Illinois home sales in the second quarter improved from the first quarter of 2008 yet were lower compared to the same period a year ago. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS(R) (IAR) second quarter report, total home sales (which include single-family homes and condominiums) were 32,414 in the second quarter, down 25.4 percent from a year ago when 43,438 home sales were reported in the second quarter. The second quarter median home sale price was $192,500, down 6.8 percent from $206,500 in 2007. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.

"While sales certainly have picked up across Illinois during the early spring and summer months, some buyers and sellers seem to be waiting for the all-clear signal to make a move in this market as economic and consumer confidence indicators remain weak," said REALTOR(R) Kay Wirth, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS(R). "Our Illinois housing market has been resilient given these pressures, with prices registering modest losses and many regions still posting gains since sales peaked during the boom in the third quarter of 2005. It is a good market, especially for buyers who now have many choices. The new first-time buyer tax credit and foreclosure rescue program enacted by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act should help stabilize the housing market."

In the city of Chicago, the median price of a home increased 5.1 percent in the second quarter to $310,000 compared to $295,000 in the second quarter of 2007. Total home sales (single-family and condominiums) reached 6,210 sales in the second quarter, off 28.0 percent from 8,628 homes sold in the second quarter of 2007.

"While the median home price for a home in the city of Chicago is up over 5 percent, second quarter data continues to show that the marketplace is stabilizing. With the average sales closing at 95 percent of list price, Chicago's homebuyers are making reasonable offers and finding great deals in the city," said David Hanna, president-elect of the Chicago Association of REALTORS(R).

In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), total home sales (including single-family and condominiums) were down 28.9 percent in the second quarter to 20,679, compared to 29,092 home sales in the second quarter of 2007. The median home sale price in the Chicagoland PMSA was off 2.3 percent to $250,000 in the second quarter of 2008 compared to $256,000 in the same period one year ago.

Thirty-eight of the 100 counties reporting in the state saw median home sale price increases in the second quarter including Adams County, up 1.2 percent to $91,000; Champaign, up 0.1 percent to $143,000; Coles, up 9.0 percent to $85,000; Franklin, up 9.1 percent to $60,000; Kendall, up 2.0 percent to $237,500; Knox, up 7.0 percent to $68,500; Macon, up 4.2 percent to $92,500; Morgan, up 6.7 percent to $96,000; Peoria, up 13.2 percent to $129,000; and Sangamon, up 2.5 percent to $117,825.

"Research shows that just one sale of a residential home in Illinois results in $28,413 in direct expenditures to other industries such as purchases of new furniture and appliances, repair costs and moving expenses. The housing market's impact on the state's economy underscores why REALTORS(R) urge state and local government leaders to keep jobs in Illinois and foster a healthy economy," said Wirth, a broker with Re/Max Unlimited Northwest in Crystal Lake.

According to Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) of the University of Illinois: "After posting some impressive gains in the first quarter, in contrast to the U.S. economy, the Illinois economy has stumbled in the last quarter, and recorded the third negative job change in 2008 in June. In the last twelve months, Illinois has outperformed the U.S. in terms of growth rates but has added only 8,000 jobs. In 2007, Illinois added almost 42,000 jobs."

Adds Hewings: "Still, the Illinois economy has recorded positive gains in the last twelve months while the rest of the Midwest (Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan) have lost almost 80,000 jobs; most of the losses have been recorded in Michigan and Ohio."

Sales and price information is generated from a survey of Multiple Listing Service sales reported by 35 participating Illinois REALTOR(R) local boards and associations. The Chicagoland PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS(R) is a voluntary trade association whose 55,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS(R) works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation that safeguards and advances the interest of real property ownership.

Detailed second quarter 2008 Illinois home sales statistics can be accessed at the IAR Web site at www.illinoisrealtor.org, Market Stats.