Home prices in Chicago area hit new post-crisis low in March
BY FRANCINE KNOWLES Business Reporter/fknowles@suntimes.com May 29, 2012 9:56AM
Updated: May 29, 2012 7:09PM
Average home prices in the Chicago area hit a new post-crisis market low in March, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index.
The average price fell 7.1 percent from a year earlier and 2.5 percent from February.
The Chicago area was among three cities to see the annual rate of decline worsen in March, joining the Detroit and Atlanta areas. Besides Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York and Portland also hit new post-crisis lows.
The 10-city composite fell 2.8 percent from March 2011 and edged down 0.1 percent since February. The 20-city composite fell 2.6 percent year-over-year and was unchanged from February. Twelve cities saw prices rise from February.
“While there has been improvement in some regions, housing prices have not turned,” David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices said in a statement.
Tuesday’s news comes on the heels of a report released by the Illinois Association of Realtors last week that showed median prices in the Chicago area appeared to be stabilizing in April. Prices dipped only 1.5 percent last month from April 2011 that report showed. In the city of Chicago, the median price rose 9.3 percent.
