While the news out this week was the housing sales for the Chicagoland area were down, that simple fact glosses over the bigger picture: the market is returning to normal after years of irregular patterns.
Sales in October dropped 2.0 percent year-over-year from 9,344 to 9,155 but the market was still positive by year-to-date measure, 7.4 percent above 2014. Distressed housing sales as a portion of the market also continue to decline: they're now back to 2009 levels.
In Chicago specifically, low total inventory, related at least partially to the tradition seasonability of the marketplace, had a big impact. Sales in the city were down .9 percent year-over-year to 2,109 but median prices were up 1.7 percent to $240,000.