Last month we compared areas from the interior and collar counties as to the level of housing inventory. This month, we'll generalize to gather as broad a trend as possible (and avoid comparing cities that are the exception to their area's "rule"). Additionally, we are removing New Construction homes from the equation. Not because new construction home sales are in any way not significant, but because builders often enter vacant land as built homes for sale - they are casting as wide a net as possible right now. We refer to some of these listings as "phantom listings," as they are not really properties "on the market." The vacant homes for sale are an important factor in this market, but the distortion is greater than you would ever expect.
Cook County
DuPage County
Kane County
DeKalb County
What's interesting about this data, is that ACROSS THE BOARD these counties have halved the total inventory level highs from this past December. These levels, however, have not receded to last year's lows, which were in March and April. It should definitely be noted, with this snapshot of the market's health, that by broadening the scope of examination, we are also amalgamating such areas as the Gold Coast with the east side of Elgin, or Northwest Aurora with downtown Geneva.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's data.
