Darien Home Sales Up 40 Percent at End of 2011

The local real estate market’s looking up.

The number of homes sold in during the last three months of 2011 increased 40 percent over the same time period in 2010, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe).

Twenty-eight homes sold in Darien from October to December 2011, versus 20 sold during those months in 2010.

Home sales in suburban Chicago overall rose by 19 percent over 2010 in the fourth quarter, MORe said.

“You can feel the vibrations in the ground,” said MORe co-president Tom Krettler in a statement. “The market is moving. There are good deals out there – really good deals – that are motivating buyers.”

Sales prices also saw gains in a year-to-year comparison. The average sales price in Darien during 2011 was $285,678, up 11.9 percent from 2010, according to MORe.

The increase in the median sales price in Darien was less dramatic at 0.6 percent — but $269,400 is still an improvement over 2010’s median of $267,675.

Nearby, Lisle saw large gains in 2011, with the number of home sales increasing 82 percent year-to-year. The number of homes sold in Wood Dale rose by 93 percent in 2011.