A lingering  cold snap and higher prices resulted in slower home sales activity in January in the Champaign County area compared to the same month a year ago, according to the Champaign County Association of REALTORS®.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

            Specifically, there were 117 homes sold last month, 36 fewer homes than in January of 2018.

            The median home sale price in January of 2019 for the Champaign County area was $155,000, up 16.98 percent from $132,500. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half for less.

            The average home sale price in January in the Champaign County area stood at $182,508 up 10.71 percent from $164,849 in January of 2018.

            “January’s wintry weather conditions certainly factored into the pace of home sales in the Champaign market area as fewer buyers were out searching to purchase a home,” said Eric Porter, President of the Champaign County Association of REALTORS®. “Also, the partial government shutdown that extended into January had some overall negative effects on the economy and the housing market as well with delays on some real estate transactions, unavailability of federal Rural Housing Service loans and processing bottlenecks at some federal agencies.”

            The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation reported the national average commitment rate for a 30-year conventional, fixed rate mortgage was 4.46 percent in January, up from 4.02 percent in January of 2018 and down from 4.63 percent from December of 2018. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.37 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending February 14, 2019, down from last week when it averaged 4.41 percent. This is the lowest level since early 2018.

            “Now that the election of a new Governor has been completed there are concerns about how he will address the myriad fiscal problems facing the state,” noted Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois in his 2019 Housing Price Forecast for the Illinois REALTORS®. “The housing market in Illinois has certainly been dampened by anemic employment growth with continued net out-migration further reducing demand in the housing market.”



          Median prices are forecast to continuously grow in 2019 within a narrower and slightly smaller range compared with 2018. As for statewide sales, they are forecast to experience overall positive gains in 2019, led by the growth of regular sales in the Chicago area.

 “While the housing affordability topic will continue to set the tone for the 2019 housing market, early signs point to an improving inventory situation,” said Porter. “A strong job market and continued modest economic growth should rekindle demand for the spring homebuying season which is just around the corner. As the year moves forward, we expect to see a more balanced market with fewer multiple offers as we have seen in the past couple of years. Sellers need to work with a REALTOR® to appropriately price their home in this competitive marketplace.”

The Champaign County Association of REALTORS® is a voluntary trade organization serving Champaign County and surrounding areas and is a leading resource and an advocate for homeownership and private property rights. Statistics are from residential sales within Champaign County. Data compiled by Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC as available on February 14, 2019.