The housing market in northwest Illinois, including Stephenson, Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, saw another strong year in 2022.
According to data from NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors, the three-month rolling average price in those three counties rose from $179,794 in 2021 to $202,160 in 2022. Home prices rose every month in 2022 over the previous year.
more:10 most expensive homes sold during December in the Freeport area
There was one key trend that helped drive home prices up, according to the realtors alliance.
“The pandemic unleashed an unprecedented demand for second homes,” said Conor Brown, CEO of NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors. “We’ve seen a rise in the number of people purchasing homes for rentals. It’s an investment which is becoming a sought-after segment of the housing market as buyers look for more predictable investments over the stock market.”
The realtors alliance also cited an influx of remote work adding to the interest of second homes as well as purchasing homes in small towns and rural areas.
All-cash buyers play a particularly important role in the second home market, according to the realtors alliance, because their buying power is not as directly affected by the steep interest rate hikes of recent months.
The share of all-cash repeat buyers has jumped from 17% to 27% in 2022, according to the National Association of Realtors.
If you sold your home last year, you probably saw how quickly your home got off the market with homes selling in 45 days, less than half the average of 92 days it took in 2021.
Despite rising home prices in 2022, there is still record-low inventory in the area along with significantly higher mortgage rates. That combination led to sales dropping 21.3% last year.
This article originally appeared on Journal Standard: Freeport area home prices were sold faster for bigger bucks in 2022