CHICAGO — The median sale price for a condo in Chicago in 2015 was $290,000, up 5.5 percent from 2014, a new report says.
Single-family homes in the city sold for a median price of $195,000, up 8.3 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.
The total number of homes of both types sold was 27,439, up 7.8 percent for the year.
"The Chicago market continues to post strong price gains, reflecting consumer interest in being in a vibrant city and a continuing shortage of available homes from which to choose," Dan Wagner, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors said in a statement.
"All indicators are that the momentum we saw in 2015 will bridge over into the new year," said Wagner, who is also senior vice president for government relations for The Inland Real Estate Group.
For the greater Chicago area, condo median sale prices in 2015 was $166,900 (up 4.3 percent). For single family homes it was $217,700, up 11.6 percent from 2014 in the greater metro area, the report said.
The median price means half were sold for less and half were sold for more.
RELATED: See DNAinfo's Map on How Much Homes Are Selling for In Your Neighborhood
Writing in a 2016 forecast prepared for the association, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings of the University of Illinois said that in 2015 the state added jobs at a faster rate that the U.S. as a whole twice: in February and October, with the latter "the more surprising in view of the fact that Illinois still does not have a state budget."
"The housing sales and price forecasts for 2016 for both Illinois and Chicago are still positive but within smaller ranges month to month than those experienced in 2015," he said.
Nationally, home sales in 2015 were the highest in nine years, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.
Experts credited a steady job growth and low mortgages which attracted more buyers into the market, resulting in sales and prices climbing. Americans bought some 5.26 million homes in 2015, a 6.5 percent increase over 2014. The median sales price rose 6.8 percent to $222,400.
First-time buyers in all of 2015 represented an average of 30 percent, the lowest level in nearly three decades, the national association said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
