Chicago-area home sales down almost 28% in June

(Crain's) — Home sales in the Chicago area fell almost 28% in June, according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors.

In the nine-county Chicago region, home and condominium sales totaled 7,656 in June, compared with 10,612 sales in June 2007, the Realtors' group said in a release Thursday.

The median home sale price in the Chicago area was $256,000 in June, down 3.3% from June 2007. The median is the price where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Statewide sales fell 27% in June, to 11,643 homes compared with 15,945 in June 2007, the Realtors' group said. The median sale price statewide was $200,000, down 6.1% compared with June 2007.

Chicago-area sales were up 10.5% in June compared with May, according to the release. June's statewide sales were up 3.6% over May.

The Realtors' group's sales figures include new and existing homes. The nine-county Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Also Thursday, the National Assn. of Realtors reported that nationwide sales of existing homes dropped by 2.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million units. That's more than double the expected decline. It leaves sales 15.5% below where they were a year ago.

The downward slide in sales is depressing prices, too. The nationwide median price for a home sold in June has dropped to $215,100, down by 6.1 percent from a year ago. That was the fifth-largest year-over-year price drop on record.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.