December Home Sales Jump in St. Charles

By Lauren Williamson

St. Charles saw a 75.9 percent spike in December home sales over a year earlier, and home values are rising, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors.

That shakes out to 51 homes sold in December 2012 compared with 29 sold in December 2011.

In addition, the median price of homes sold in December ($260,000) was 13.1 percent higher than the median price of homes sold in December 2011 ($229,900).

The market for detached, single-family homes throughout the Tri-Cities was a mixed bag in December, the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors, which gets its statistics from Midwest Real Estate Data.

The 14 detached, single-family homes sold in Batavia during December represented a 46.2 percent drop from December 2011, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors. There were 12 homes sold in Batavia during November.

Geneva saw a 15 percent increase in the number of homes sold year over year in December. There were 23 homes sold that month in 2011 and 28 in 2012.

Overall across the Chicago suburbs, sales of single-family detached homes rose 17.1 percent in December over the same month in 2011, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors. 

The Mainstreet Organization of Realtors predicts January will be another month of local housing market growth, as the number of detached homes under contract in December 2012 was 58.3 percent higher than in December 2011. 

“We are cautiously optimistic for 2013, but that doesn’t mean people should wait to take advantage of this market,” said Tonya Corder, president of the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors and managing broker of Keller Williams Preferred Realty in Orland Park. “Interest rates will rise as the economy improves, making it more expensive to finance the purchase of a home.”

Number of homes sold

Median price

Town 2012 2011 Percent change 2012 2011 Percent change Batavia 14 26 -46.2%

303,000

220,000

37.7% Geneva 23 20 15%

325,000

279,500

16.3% St. Charles 51 29 75.9%

260,000

229,900

13.1%

Source: Mainstreet Organization of Realtors