January 2022 Naperville Housing Market Trends Report

The Branch Vice President of Coldwell Banker Realty Naperville, John Carlson, stopped by the blog to give us the latest update on Naperville’s housing market.

January closings for attached and detached homes were down year over year with 118 homes closing in January 2022 compared to 136 in January 2021. Why? Simple explanation—not enough apples on the tree—we have a supply chain issue—NOT ENOUGH HOMES FOR SALE! The Month’s Supply of Inventory is currently at 1 MSI—this metrics measures the velocity of home sales—so given the current pace of home sales in Naperville, if no new listings would hit the market, we would have zero available homes for sale at the end of February. Lucky for us, sellers have used the day after the Super Bowl as the unofficial start for the Spring Real Estate market.

If you are a seller, beat everyone to the punch—list today and you will get a premium for your home and more than likely have multiple buyers bidding on your home. The prices for the closed home sin January are up as well—the average selling price in January 2022 was $461,660 versus $408,566 in January 2021—an increase of 13% year over year. The inventory of available homes has receded to 121 available homes vs 311 homes last January. Yes, we have a supply problem—not enough salable homes for a very active buyer’s market. The average days on market was 26 days versus 31 days on market last January. The average price per square foot has surged to $196 per square foot compared to $174 per square foot in January 2021—that is a 12.6% increase year over year. And lastly, the list to sell price ratio is 98.2% compared to 96.6% in January 2021, meaning that the sellers are getting much closer to their selling price, leaving little negotiating room for the buyer.

It’s not all bad for the buyer—if they BUY NOW. Interest rates are on the raise currently hovering around 3.5% on a 30 year conventional loan. With 3 planned rate hikes by the Fed in 2022 on overnight borrowing between the banks, all indications are that the mortgage rates will increase in 2022. For every 1% increase in rates, that equates to an 11% rise in the monthly mortgage payment—so either buy now, or more than likely pay a higher price later. It’s important to start your purchase a little earlier, to lock in at these low interest rates.