Home sales in the Peoria area for 2025 were down a little from the previous year, but a slight boost over the final three months offers some optimism for this year.
Peoria Area Association of Realtors [PAAR] president Leslie Rothan said the region's prolonged period of short supply seems to be stabilizing.
“What we’re seeing is the home prices are becoming more stable,” she said. “There’s more inventory that’s slowly coming onto the market, which is helpful because that gives buyers more options when it comes to what they can purchase.”
Rothan said the proverbial pendulum between a buyers’ and sellers’ market is moving closer to the middle point.
“As buyers are buying, sellers are selling, and there’s no pent up demand or a surplus of inventory,” said Rothan. “That’s what we see as a healthy market, and we’re starting to see that with the inventory locally.”
PAAR reports a 2025 year-end total of 6,325 homes sold in the Peoria market, 60 fewer than the year before. The fourth quarter saw 1,305 homes sold, seven more than the same period in 2024.
The growing inventory after years of short supply offers an encouraging sign. There were around 740 homes available during the fourth quarter, while just two years ago that number was just below 600.
“Most of the time, people stay in their homes because they don’t have to move and they want to keep their low interest rate. As we start seeing the interest rates creep back down, we start seeing sellers feel a little bit more comfortable with putting their house on the market,” said Rothan.
The average sale price for a Peoria-area home in 2025 increased 6.5% over the year before, climbing to around $201,300. However, Rothan said Peoria remains a comparatively affordable market.
“Especially the last five years, we’ve seen a lot of influx from transplants—Chicago, St Louis, Indianapolis—coming to Peoria because we have such a different cost of living, where the value of a home that you could get is just greater,” she said.
“Peoria has a greater affordability as far as still having the amenities and the great attractors that somebody who would want to live in a larger city would have. We’ve got the dining, the shopping, the museum. There’s a lot of development that’s exciting, that brings people in. That gives the larger city feel while not necessarily attaching the larger city price tag on real estate.”
Rothan said PAAR continues to work with city leaders and community organizations in providing real estate data as efforts continue to address the region’s current housing crisis and need for more affordable homes.
“The word ‘affordable,’ I think, is very interesting, because it’s used as a general term. But what’s affordable to one person may not be affordable to another,” she said. “So what we have to figure out and help analyze is, ‘What does that look like in our market?’
“We’re working hand in hand with them and trying to give them the information that they need to make the best decisions that they can for our city.”
Rothan said early indications suggest the first quarter of 2026 could continue a strong trend, despite winter months typically producing slower sales.
“The agents that I’m talking to in this business, they’re busy. Normally, even though winter isn’t the busiest time of year, we’re still pretty consistent when it comes to houses that are getting put on the market,” said Rothan.
“We’re still seeing a lot of showing activity; buyers are wanting to tour the properties, regardless if it’s January or not. So I’m excited to see how that shakes out the next few months.”
