Off the wire
• IMF tells Ireland to maintain fiscal restraint in 2015  • Global pro bono campaign launched in Cannes to honor city climate solutions  • United Nations to reward best public service initiative worldwide  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end higher on Greece optimism  • Extent of devastation, human suffering in 2014 Gaza conflict unprecedented: report  • Italy should play "protagonist" role in int'l climate negotiations: PM  • Urgent: U.S. stocks end higher on Greece optimism  • Non-performing loans in Albania at lowest level since 2012  • 1st LD Writethru: Crude prices rebound amid hopes of Greece deal  • Number of tourists visiting Albania to increase in 2015  
You are here: 　 Home

Chicago home prices hit seven-year high in May

Xinhua, June 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The median price of a home sold in Chicago in May reached the highest level since August 2008, Illinois Association of Realtors said in a report on Monday, pointing to a continuing recovery in the local housing market.

The median price of a home in Chicago was 287,500 U.S. dollars, up 6.8 percent from last year, the highest level in nearly seven years. In Chicago, 2,700 homes were sold in May 2015, up 10.1 percent from last year, the report said.

"Chicago has seen home buyers enter the market with vigor since February," said Hugh Rider, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and co-president of Realty & Mortgage Co. "The increase in median prices and the relative lack of inventory compared to a year ago show consumers are comfortable with buying in the city and they believe the investment is worth paying a bit more."

According to the same report, in the nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, home sales (single family and condominiums) in May 2015 increased 7.0 percent from a year ago. The median price in May in the Chicago PMSA was up 7.2 percent from the level in May 2014.

Nationally, existing-home sales rose to their highest pace in almost six years and were 9.2 percent ahead of a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales rose 5.1 percent from April, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million homes in May. That put them at their highest level since November 2009's 5.44 million homes. Endite