Goddard Report: Chicagoland Housing Market, Oct 21, 2026
There are 1,269 homes for sale across our 24 western-suburb towns this morning, and buyers are clearing them almost as fast as they list. Here is the whole picture — every town, plus how quickly this market is actually moving.
24-town area
active builds
6.0% is ours
Every town, one chart
Ranked by how many homes are for sale right now. The number inside each bar is the actual count — dark green for houses, light green for condos and townhomes — so you can read the split without doing any math. The last three columns show what changed since last week, since a month ago, and how many of the listings are brand-new construction.
First, the obvious one. Elgin, St. Charles/Campton Hills, Schaumburg carry the most inventory, but that is mostly a size story — they are the biggest towns in the group, so more homes are for sale there simply because more homes exist there.
111 is the dark green section — single-family houses. A house standing on its own lot, no shared walls.46 is the light green section — condos and townhomes. Homes that share at least one wall with a neighbor.157 on the right is just those two added together — every home for sale in Elgin this morning.
The two colors describe the homes, not the town. All 24 of these are single-family towns. Schaumburg is not “a condo town” because its light green section runs long this week — it only means that more of what happens to be available right now is attached. Next month the same town can look completely different. It is a snapshot of what is for sale, nothing more.
When a section is too thin to hold its own number we print it just past the end of the bar rather than drop it — West Chicago reads “2 condo/TH” out to the right. Anywhere you see a bar with almost no light green, that town has very little to offer a condo or townhome buyer at the moment — which is worth knowing before you spend a Saturday looking there.
Week versus month. A town can be down for the week and still up for the month — that is normal noise, not a trend. When both columns point the same direction, that is the one worth paying attention to. Area-wide we are up 83 homes since September 23, and Bloomingdale, Elgin, Geneva, Glendale Heights are building inventory on both clocks.
Only on the blog
How fast this market is really moving
The market is calmer than it was at its peak, but homes are still selling. Homes that went under contract in the last 30 days took a median of 21 days, up from 15 the month before. Inventory alone does not tell you how the market feels; this is the part the social posts do not carry. Based on 748 new contracts in the last 30 days and 2,565 closed sales in the last 90 days, across the same 24 towns.
Selling fastest
Most breathing room
What those four numbers actually mean for you
- There is about 1.3 month of homes to choose from. A normal, comfortable market has five or six months’ worth. So the right house can still draw more than one buyer.
- You have more time to decide. Half of the homes that went under contract in the last 30 days took 21 days or more, and 40% took more than a month. On a home that has been sitting, there is room to negotiate.
- What to do about it: get pre-approved so you can act when the right house shows up, and on homes that have been on the market a while, make the offer that makes sense to you.
- Homes are still selling, but buyers are pickier. There is about 1.3 month of homes for sale — less competition than in a normal market.
- Half of recent contracts came within 21 days. Buyers are comparing more before they commit.
- About 6 out of every 10 sellers got asking price or better — pricing it right from the start is what gets you there.
- What to do about it: price it for the market you are in today. A home that sits gets noticed, and the price usually comes down anyway.
What it means this week
If you are buying
New construction is worth a look — 140 active new builds across the area, where the price is the price and you are not competing with other offers. And the “most breathing room” towns above are where you get the most choice per buyer.
If you are selling
Wayne (5), Medinah (6), Winfield (15), Itasca (17) have the fewest homes on the market this week. Less competition means more eyes on your listing — and with 61% of recent sales closing at or above asking, pricing right is beating pricing high.
Thinking about a move?
Dave and Candy Goddard are full-time Chicagoland agents with Garry Real Estate. You get two agents for the price of one.
What is my home worth? Search homes for sale
Call 630-310-8315 · Text Dave 630-992-3283 · Text Candy 630-992-5477
