DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. - Sales of single-family detached homes went up 31.8 percent in October compared with the same period a year ago, according to statistics released today by the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® (MORe), indicating the fifth consecutive monthly increase. 
 
MORe measured activity on homes in about 120 southern and western suburban communities through information from Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. 
 
"The significant growth in the market demonstrates that pent-up demand is disappearing thanks in part to the incentives available to first-time homebuyers," said Mike Drews, President of MORe, and the Designated REALTOR® of Charles Doss, REALTORS®, in the Aurora and Oswego areas. "I believe move-up buyers also will continue to spur growth in the market and we'll begin to see more movement related to condos and townhouses as a result of the federal government's extension and expansion of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit."  
 
There were notable home sales gains across the 120-community area, where the numbers of homes sold leaped by double- and triple-digit percentages.
 
Standouts in the south suburbs for number of homes sold were Burbank (140 percent increase from a year ago); Country Club Hills (240 percent); Orland Park (37 percent); and Tinley Park (150 percent).
 
In the DuPage County area, home sale activity was highest in Addison (80 percent increase from a year ago); Batavia (100 percent); Bensenville (400 percent); Geneva (27 percent); Hinsdale (122 percent); and Villa Park (80 percent).
 
Home sale activity also was up in the western Cook communities of Bellwood (120 percent increase from a year ago); Elmwood Park (125 percent); Franklin Park (180 percent); Maywood (186 percent); Melrose Park (200 percent); and Westchester (73 percent).
 
There were dramatic increases in the numbers of homes under contract in October 2009 compared with a year earlier - a 70 percent improvement for detached homes and an 81 percent increase for attached dwellings. The strongest increases were seen in detached homes in Addison (225 percent increase from a year ago); Aurora (118 percent); Bensenville (229 percent); Downers Grove (74 percent); Glen Ellyn (244 percent); Naperville (48 percent); Oak Lawn (92 percent); and West Chicago (127 percent).