Northbrook, IL—February 25, 2015—The number of new listings in the North Shore – Barrington area has increased by 12.7 percent compared to January of last year. According to data from the North Shore-Barrington Association of Realtors (NSBAR), 859 houses were put on the market in January—nearly doubling the amount of new listings in December 2014.listings in December 2014.

While closed sales saw a decrease of 4.3 percent compared to this time last year, the number of properties under contract soared by 10.6 percent.

“This is truly a great time for homebuyers. Not only is there an increase in available properties for buyers to choose from, but some also have the opportunity to take advantage of the 3 percent down payment programs that could help make purchasing a home a reality,” stated NSBAR Board President Wayne Paprocki and broker with RealtyRealty Advisors North in Northbrook Wayne Pap-rocki, MCNE, DREI, GRI.

Additionally, playing in favor of homebuyers is the fact that there are 2,713 available properties for sale in the North Shore – Barrington area com-pared to 2,399 last January—an increase of 13.1 percent.

Prices are continuing to gain traction with the median sale price of $375,500 in January of 2015, an increase of 3.4 percent from $363,000 in Janu-ary 2014.

“We shouldn’t expect to see drastic price increas-es as in other parts of the country due to Chica-go’s slow economic recovery and lagging 0.8

percent employment growth, which is half of the nationwide rate,” commented NSBAR CEO Steve Volkodav.

Across the North Shore-Barrington region, Janu-ary 2015 housing market highlights include:

• Year-to-date, 250 detached single-family homes sold in the North Shore-Barrington market. In the majority of communities, sales for 2015 were down, compared to a year ago, along with median sale prices. Communities reporting an increase (or no change) in sales year-to-date compared to January 2014 include Barrington area, Deerfield, HighlandHighland Park, Lake Bluff, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Northfield and Winnetka.

• Barrington area –32 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, the same number of detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $489,000 a decrease of 2.3 percent compared to $500,750 a year ago.

•• Deerfield – 16 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, up 33.3 percent compared to 12 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $577,500, up 9 percent compared to $530,000 a year ago.

•• Evanston – 13 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, down 7.1 percent compared to 14 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $351,000, down 17.8 percent compared to $427,000 a year ago.

• Golf-Glenview – 21 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, down 22.2 percent compared to 27 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $550,000, down 8.3 percent compared to $600,000 a year ago.

•• Lake Forest – 16 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, down 20 percent compared to 20 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $672,500, down 40.2 percent compared to $1,125,000 a year ago.

•• Northbrook – 20 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, down 16.7 percent compared to 24 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $620,000, up 23.3 percent compared to $502,850 a year ago.

•• Skokie – 23 detached single-family homes sold year-to-date, down 20.7 percent compared to 29 detached single-family homes sold by January 2014. The median sale price in January 2015 was $280,000, up 8.9 percent compared to $257,000 a year ago.

Sales and price information is generated by NSBAR with Midwest Real Estate Data.

TheThe North Shore-Barrington Association of REAL-TORS® (NSBAR) represents more than 3,500 practitioners in residential and commercial real estate. Since 1919 it has been the area’s leading advocate for private property rights and a healthy real estate environment. Visit NSBAR online at NSBAR.org.

Based on Census Tract data, MRED defines the North Shore as including Bannockburn, Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Golf, Highland Park, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Lincolnwood, Mettawa, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Prairie View, Riverwoods, Skokie, Wilmette and Winnet-ka.ka.

SALES AND PRICE INFORMATION IS GENERATED BY MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE CLOSED SALES REPORTED BY 30 PARTICIPATING ILLINOIS REALTOR® LOCAL BOARDS AND ASSOCIATIONS INCLUDING MIDWEST REAL ESTATE DATA LLC DATA AS OF NOV. 7, 2014 FOR THE PERIOD OCT. 1 THROUGH OCT. 31, 2014. THE CHICAGO PMSA, AS DEFINED BY THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF COOK, DEKALB, DUPAGE,

GRUNDY, KANE, KENDALL, LAKE, MCHENRY AND WILL. FIND ILLINOIS HOUSING STATS, DATA AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS REAL FORECAST AT WWW.ILLINOISREALTOR.ORG/MARKETSTATS.

HOUSING MARKET SURGES IN NORTH SHORE - BARRINGTON

NEW LISTINGS AND HOUSING INVENTORY SAW A LARGE INCREASE IN JANUARY 2015 COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR SIGNALING A STRONG BEGINNING FOR THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY