Northern Illinois Housing Market Update - July 2026

Northern Illinois remained supply-constrained in July even as prices continued to rise. Across detached and attached properties combined, new listings fell 2.9%, homes under contract declined 1.4%, and closed sales slipped 0.6% from a year earlier. At the same time, the combined median sales price increased 7.9% to $366,875 and the average sales price rose 10.1% to $471,717. Inventory fell 8.6% and months supply declined 7.1% to 2.0 months, while average market time held at 36 days.

Median Sales Price -- Trailing 12 Months

Pricing and Value

Metric	Detached	Attached
Average Sales Price	$502,974 (+11% YoY)	$407,046 (+8.4% YoY)
Housing Affordability Index	81 (-6.9% YoY)	100 (-6.5% YoY)
Median Sales Price	$390,000 (+6.3% YoY)	$325,000 (+6.6% YoY)

Market Speed and Competition

Metric	Detached	Attached
Average % of Original List Price Received	99.4% (+0.5 percentage points YoY)	99.9% (+0.6 percentage points YoY)
Average Market Time	37 days (+5.7% YoY)	35 days (-10.3% YoY)

Homes for Sale -- Trailing 12 Months

Months Supply -- Trailing 12 Months

Supply Snapshot

Metric	Detached	Attached
Homes for Sale	12,934 (-9.3% YoY)	5,698 (-7.1% YoY)
Months Supply	2.1 (-6.6% YoY)	1.9 (-8% YoY)

Market Activity

Metric	Detached	Attached
Closed Sales	7,652 (-2% YoY)	3,697 (+2.3% YoY)
New Listings	11,097 (-3.1% YoY)	5,308 (-2.4% YoY)
Under Contract	6,800 (-3.8% YoY)	3,349 (+3.8% YoY)

What This Means for Sellers

• Prices remained higher in both segments. The detached median rose 6.3% to $390,000, while the attached median increased 6.6% to $325,000.
• Available supply tightened. Detached inventory fell 9.3% with 2.1 months of supply, while attached inventory fell 7.1% with 1.9 months of supply.
• Sellers continued to receive close to original asking price on average: 99.4% for detached homes and 99.9% for attached properties.
• Activity differed by property type. Detached closed sales fell 2.0% and contracts declined 3.8%, while attached sales rose 2.3% and contracts increased 3.8%.

What This Means for Buyers

• Selection remained limited as inventory declined in both detached and attached segments and months supply stayed near two months.
• Affordability weakened while prices rose. The affordability index fell to 81 for detached homes and 100 for attached properties.
• Market speed differed by segment: detached market time increased to 37 days, while attached market time fell to 35 days.
• Average sale-to-original-list-price ratios of 99.4% for detached homes and 99.9% for attached properties indicate that broad discounting remained limited.

Deeper Market Data

The combined-market July figures show softer transaction activity alongside stronger prices and tighter supply. Year to date, new listings were down 0.9%, homes under contract were down 0.3%, and closed sales were down 1.5%, while the combined median sales price was up 6.6% and the average sales price was up 6.9%. Affordability was 7.7% lower year to date. The detached and attached segments also diverged during the month: detached sales and contracts declined, while attached sales and contracts increased, even as inventory and months supply fell in both segments.