CHICAGO — The median sale price of a condo in Chicago last month was $285,000, up 3.6 percent from a year ago, a new report says.
For single-family homes in the city, the median price was $177,250. That reflects a 1.5 percent decrease from November of 2014, according to the monthly report from the Illinois Association of Realtors.
There were fewer homes to choose from, both single-family and condos, compared to last November: 8,549 vs. 10,190. Homes were also selling faster than a year ago: 49 days vs. 53 days.
Fewer homes were sold in Chicago in November than the previous year, 1,615, down 1.4 percent.
For the Chicago metropolitan area, the median sale price of a condo was $168,000 and a single-family home was $211,500.
The median price means half were sold for less, half sold for more.
Commenting on the market in a report for the association, experts Geoffrey Hewings and Xian Fang of the University of Illinois said:
• A decreasing number of young people with a home mortgage "is strongly related to the rising student loan debt."
"The recession made it more difficult for all millennials to secure a mortgage; it has become even more difficult for those with significant student debt," they write.
The researchers cited a study by the Federal Bank of Cleveland on the impact of rising student debt. Those authors found that student loan payments as a share of income is currently over 20 percent.
"Having over 20 percent of one’s income dedicated to student loan payments makes it more difficult to take on a mortgage, or other debt, which can comprise 30 to 45 percent of a person’s income," the federal report states.
The federal researchers said while it’s unlikely that student loans are the sole factor in the decline in mortgage borrowing "it is hard to ignore how the recent surge in student loan debt is changing the debt portfolio of young borrowers."
"With over 40 percent of young borrowers having a student loan, and debt payments comprising 20 percent of their income, it makes it more and more difficult for young people to take on a mortgage in the first few years after attending college. And as the number of student loans continues to rise, it is a trend that is likely to continue," the federal report says.
But a new report by Fannie Mae is more optmistic, saying while ownership among people age 25 to 34 is still declining, the drop has stabilized.
• Baby boomers are not downsizing or selling as previous generations had when their children moved out "which could partially account for a supply shortage of home listings," the U. of I. researchers wrote.
• The shortage of homes for sale also could be linked to many homeowners still being "under water" — owing more than their house is worth. In the Chicago metropolitan area, 20.6 percent were under water "well above the nationwide 13.4 percent."
Nationally, home sales were down 10.5 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. Some experts said the introduction of a new federal disclosure form about interest rates and fees may have delayed closings.