Chicago Area Home Starts Up 5.6 Percent

Home starts in Illinois’ 12-county Chicagoland region were up 5.6 percent the 12-month period ending in the second quarter, according to new data from Metrostudy. The second quarter registered the strongest annual starts performance for this market in more than seven years.

There were a total of 6,250 new units started in the twelve-month period ending June 30, with 72 percent of the starts based in Illinois’ Cook, Kane and Will counties and in Indiana’s Lake County. For the second quarter alone, there were 1,728 units started, a 7.8 percent year-over-year spike. Year over year, the annual rate of closings decreased in the second quarter to 5960 units, a 4.1 percent decline compared to the prior year. For the second quarter alone, the number of homes closed was 14.1 percent below the same period last year.

“During the prerecession years, the market expanded into the outlying counties of the Chicagoland area,” said Mark Gianopulos, regional director of Metrostudy’s Chicago office. “The post-recession market has seen a consolidation of activity around Cook and the traditional collar counties … A decline in new home construction, however, can be seen in Will County for the second straight quarter. The second quarter saw construction declines in five of the 12 surveyed counties, with the largest decreases in Will and McHenry. Outlying areas of the Chicagoland market, are beginning to slowly turn around, with slight construction increases in Boone, DeKalb and Winnebago counties.”