Rockford housing numbers show increase

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) -- Rockford Area Realtors says February was another month of growth for the city's housing market.

According to the realtors, the three-month average home price rose another six percent last month to just under $123,000. That's the highest average since 2008. Last month, 872 homes were on the market: a 25 percent drop from this time last year.

Housing sales in the stateline are putting national sales to shame.

One local home buyers is sharing why she chose the state line for a place to live.

"I'm a little bit overwhelmed because I've never owned a home before, but it's nice to be able to get in there and make it our own," said Kristin Osborne.

Osborne has just finished closing on her first home on N. Church Street in Rockford.

"We're pretty close to downtown and the city market and a lot of things that are being rebuilt back into downtown," said Osborne.

Osborne is one of many planting their feet in the area.

Rockford home sales increased more than 11 percent in 2017 from 226 homes sold last January to 251 homes sold this January.

"We're number one in the state of Illinois, head of the class in job creation. That's a big deal. you know, we have significant capital investment going on around the region and that's paid off. The good news about our region is we build things and design and send things, and the money comes back here," said Rockford Area Realtors CEO Steve Bois.

Mayor Thomas McNamara believes this trend could also be linked to efforts to strengthen area neighborhoods.

"You're seeing people want to come to a community that is reinvesting in ourselves as well as making sure those large investments that citizens are making in our homes are worth that big investment," said McNamara.

A drop in available homes in the Rockford area is also causing an increase in home prices. On the other hand, national sales in homes are down more than four percent in January 2017 compared to January 2016.