Strong home-buying activity in the first quarter caused the median sales price of existing single-family homes in many areas of the Chicago region to bounce up sharply, according to a report released Tuesday by the Illinois Association of Realtors.
The North Shore, rocked by sagging sales prices last year, rebounded with a 13.6 percent jump over the first quarter of 1991. The median North Shore home price, highest in the Chicago area, stood at $239,400. That was slightly above the level of two years ago, just before the recession took hold.
Another solid performer was Elgin, where prices were 12.5 percent above the level of the first quarter of 1991. Median prices there have risen steadily from $94,200 in the first quarter of 1990 to $101,500 last year to $114,200 this year.
”It looks like people have discovered the Elgin market,” said Janet Andreotti, secretary of the state Realtors group and regional manager of Coldwell Banker Residential in Oak Brook.
Andreotti said the upcoming move of Sears, Roebuck and Co.`s Merchandise Group to Hoffman Estates this summer may be one reason for the strength of the Elgin market.
The climbing North Shore figures probably come more from a revival of the middle and upper ranges in that market-from $250,000 up-than from actual appreciation of the average home, according to Raymond Anderson, head of the North Shore Board of Realtors and president of Hokanson & Jenks in Evanston.
With more higher-price homes selling, the median price rises. The median means half the homes have sold for more and half for less.
Anderson said a number of North Shore firms have reported record dollar volumes of sales in the quarter. Sales seem to reflect more a return of confidence in the economy than lower interest rates, he added.
The overall figures for the state showed median sales prices up 4.5 percent, from $89,500 in the first quarter of last year to $93,500. The number of existing homes sold was 15,578, up 14.5 percent in the period.
A report from the National Association of Realtors due out Wednesday will mirror the strong showing in Illinois. A spokesman for the Realtor group said sales and appreciation will be up in all regions of the country and in most states.
The spokesman said the national figures will be better than reported in the fourth quarter of 1991, when sales were up 4.7 and prices up 7.4 percent over the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Two Chicago-area markets continuing to lag significantly are Barrington and Oak Brook, according to Andreotti. The median sales price in Barrington dropped 4.8 percent, to $238,000.
Andreotti said the two markets were alike in having a limited choice of homes confined mostly to the higher-price range. ”Historically, it takes a little longer for them to bounce back,” she said.
Other local areas with sales price climbs pushing 10 percent were the northwest suburbs, Will County and the southwest suburbs.
Whereas transferees are a big part of the market in the west and north suburbs, Andreotti said, the southwest suburban market is supported strongly by people already living there who are moving up to better homes.
Chicago, where sales and prices lagged in 1991, muscled up 7.4 percent, to an average of $148,400 in 1992`s first quarter.
Arne Fox, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, said the figures indicate to him the return to a steady market after the wild upward swings of the mid-1980s and the slump of the last two years.
”We need a steady pace. This is in the right direction,” he said. ”It seems like the market is trying to adjust itself.”
The figures from the Du Page County Realtors show little change in the last two years, with median prices at $137,800 in the first quarter of 1990, $138,500 in 1991 and $139,000 this year.
Andreotti said the wide variety of housing prices in the area and the steady influx of transferees helped dampen the effects of the recession and reduce price fluctuations. ”It didn`t decrease when others did and it hasn`t increased either,” she said.
Realtors generally reported a slowing of the market since March after a strong start to the year.
”Activity seems to have fallen off a little bit the second half of April and the first week in May,” said Anderson. ”We certainly hope it`s not the end of the spring market.”
Andreotti said many buyers in January and February were those who had put off buying last fall as consumer confidence dwindled and job fears rose. Many of them have now made their purchases, and the current activity reflects more normal spring buying.
Fox said the downtown Chicago flood and the aftermath to the Rodney King verdict may be causing a lull in activity. ”People are funny. These things can throw a curve ball to the whole economy. But I have a good feeling for the rest of the year.”
