Lake County & McHenry County Market Data

Here is what the numbers tell us. In Lake County, the latest full month is still August: a median sale price of $428,566, up 4.4% from a year ago, with 849 pending sales, about even with last year, and 3,039 active listings, roughly 6% more than at the same time last summer. That is the part of the picture that stands out to me: buyers in Lake County have more homes to choose from than they did a year ago. Homes took a median of 50 days to go under contract, a little longer than July's 47 days, and the seasonal step-back from July is August behaving like August, not a sign of trouble. Months of supply of about 2.4 still leans toward sellers, but the balance is healthier than it was last year, and the share of homes selling above list price eased to 39.8%, down from 48.3% in July and 1.5 points below a year earlier. Redfin's September county report has not been released yet, and we will refresh these numbers as soon as it publishes.

In McHenry County, the data simply publishes on a slower schedule. Redfin's county page still shows a median sale price of $365,000 for the three months ending May 2026, up 4.3% from a year earlier. The latest confirmed days-on-market reading is 33 days (April 2026, Realtor.com data via the St. Louis Fed), and Redfin's rolling figure of about 43 days, down from roughly 50 a year ago, tells the same story: well-priced homes are finding buyers without a long wait. Homes closed essentially at their asking price in May, at a 100.6% sale-to-list ratio, and roughly 1,187 homes were listed for sale as of the county page's latest snapshot. Public sources still do not publish a current monthly county-level homes-sold count for McHenry County, so we have left that out rather than guess. For wider context, Illinois REALTORS reported statewide home sales of 12,103 in August, down 4.6% from a year earlier, with 22,531 homes on the market, and a statewide median price of $338,000 in July, up 6.0% from a year earlier.

Mortgage rates are holding at a high level, and that is the honest headline for buyers. Freddie Mac's survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 15, unchanged from the prior week and about 1.13 percentage points above where it stood a year ago (6.27%). Financing a purchase genuinely costs more than it did last year, and that is worth factoring into any budget. If you are thinking about buying or selling, here is what matters most to me: nothing in these numbers demands a rushed decision. Inventory in Lake County is still well above last year's levels, prices in both counties are rising at a steady, sustainable pace, and well-priced homes are still selling at a reasonable clip. That is a market that rewards patience and good information, not one that rewards pressure. We are here to help you understand how these figures apply to your own circumstances. No pressure, just straight answers.