A common measure of a buyer’s market is when available inventory exceeds a six-month supply, based on the previous year’s sales rate. Sales of new and existing single-family homes and condos in Chicago had surpassed that mark by late January 2007, according to figures compiled from the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois by James Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties. Chicago currently has an 8.1-month supply of single-family homes and a 7.3-month stock of condos and townhomes (both resale and new), Kinney says. Last week when we spoke to Kinney, 6,829 single-family homes and 14,135 condos were listed on the MLSNI.
“The supply of condos is larger than at first glance, too,” Kinney said, noting that not all developers list their units on the MLSNI.