Home prices are climbing in the Peoria Area. That’s according to the Peoria Area Association of Realtors second quarter home sales report released today. It says the local housing market saw a 4.5 percent gain in sales from this time last year.
PAAR President Phil Harvey says the median home sale price increased nearly 2.5 percent.
“Inventory levels are dropping, that’s why prices are rising," Harvey said. "And this is an excellent time if you’ve ever contemplated in recent years in selling your home.”
Harvey also says home area sales were up 4.6 percent from the same time last year. He says expected hikes in mortgage interest rates is another determining factor to affect housing affordability and the overall market. That poses a potential deterrence to millennial and first-time homebuyers in particular.
Harvey says millennials are expected to drive two-thirds of the housing market during the next five years.
“Once the millennials and the first-time home buyers get into the market, we’ll have a pretty robust real estate market here in Peoria,” Harvey said.
U.S. Census data reports a steady decline in homeownership nationally among those under the age of 35. That’s down about five percent since 2009.