Chicagoland vs United States

This is all about the available homes for sale or as we like to say, inventory. Chicagoland (this covers Chicago and the surrounding Counties) is still struggling with very low inventory. The US on the other hand has inventory rising at a steady pace. The graph below will show you that inventory bottomed in the US in 2022 and has been rising steadily. It is still below where it was pre Covid but not far off. It is not uncommon to see states in the US right now with price declines year over year. That is not the case in Chicagoland.

Chicagoland continues to see home prices increase due to more buyers than sellers. The lack of inventory continues to push prices higher on a year over year basis. We are in the slower time now where prices decline on a month to month basis but that is only seasonal. That is why it is a great time to buy right now. There will be a lull in the market here until we get to February / March and then prices will rise.

The graph below is showing inventory in Chicagoland. It did not bottom until 2024 and has remained low. You can also see how far Chicagoland is away from the pre Covid inventory levels. The low point in the year for inventory pre Covid was 30,000 homes and the low point now is about 10,000 homes. This is just to reiterate why it is shaping up to be another very strong Spring market in 2026. If you can, buy now before the Spring market!