The cooldown in housing markets across Illinois and Ohio continued in December, as sales fell below their 2005 levels for the ninth straight month, according to Realtor associations in both states.
In Ohio, sales of new and existing homes fell 5.1 percent last month to 9,710, compared with a record 10,228 sales posted during the month in 2005, the Ohio Association of Realtors reported.
The state’s average home sales price of $149,711 came in 2.9 percent lower than the $154,231 average reported a year earlier.
For the year, Ohio’s 142,416 sales of new and existing homes dropped 3.1 percent from 2005, while the average sales price dipped 2.1 percent to $153,456.
In Illinois, total sales of new and existing single-family homes and condos tumbled to 10,811 in December, a 19.1 percent drop from the 13,361 sales a year earlier, the Illinois Association of Realtors reported.
The median sales price — a typical market price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less — inched up 0.7 percent to $202,500 last month.
In the Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), total home sales (single-family and condominiums) fell to 7,532 last month, down 21.5 percent from 9,600 sales in the same month of 2005. The median home sales price for the Chicagoland PMSA was $245,000 in December, up 0.2 percent from $244,500 a year ago.
For the year, a total of 167,860 home sales were reported statewide, down 8.9 percent from the record 184,199 sales in 2005. The year-end Illinois median sales price was $203,900 in 2006, up 1.5 percent from $200,900 in 2005.
Total home sales in the Chicagoland PMSA reached 116,463 for 2006, down 12.6 percent from 133,305 sales in 2005. The 2006 median sales price in the Chicagoland PMSA gained 2.9 percent during the period, rising from $241,000 to $248,000.
