Rockford region starts 2025 with spike in home sale listings – a welcomed change amid tight inventory

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — After three straight years of limited inventory and a falling number of homes listed on the market, local real estate agents started 2025 with a 42% increase in new listings compared to this time a year ago.

There were 268 properties that hit the market in January compared to 189 in January 2024, according to the NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors.

The increased listings are a welcomed change for buyers in a market that has seen high demand and limited inventory drive up prices to record highs. Last year, the Rockford region saw the fewest number of homes sold since 2011, largely because of a limited inventory of properties for sale and rising mortgage rates.

The rise in new listings raised the total inventory of homes for sale by more than 9% to 275 homes compared to 251 a year ago.

“Inventory is still tight in the Rockford market, but it is rising,” said Conor Brown, CEO of the NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors. “And 2025 is poised to continue the trend of rising inventory across the country.”

Related: Home sales in the Rockford region fell to their lowest level in 13 years

The annual number of new home listings has dropped each year since 2021, when there were 6,179 houses put on the market. That number fell by more than 16% to 5,162 in 2022, then dropped nearly 13% to 4,501 in 2023 and landed at 4,442 new listings in 2024.

The three-month rolling average price for homes sold in January in Boone, Winnebago and Ogle counties was $215,621, according to the latest data from the Realtors group. That’s up 9% from $197,355 in January 2024.

Properties took an average of 28 days to sell in January, up four from a year ago.

Rockford remained one of the hottest housing markets in the country last month, although it fell from its No. 1 ranking in December to No. 7 on the Realtor.com list.

The No. 1 spot was claimed in January by Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire, with Hartford, Connecticut, ranking second and Kenosha, Wisconsin, coming in at third. The ranking is determined by views per property on Realtor.com and the speed at which homes move off the market.

Related: Homebuilding in Rockford has hit its highest level since the Great Recession

“If you own a home already, you may be tempted to wait because you don’t want to sell and take on a higher mortgage rate on your next house,” Brown said. “But your move may be a lot more feasible than you think, and that’s because of how much your house has likely grown in value. That’s significant – and when you sell, that can give you what you need to fund your next move.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas