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. Redfin's published August summary did not include an August sold-above-list share we could confirm, so rather than guess, we have left that single figure blank; its most recent readings were 48.3% of homes selling above list in July and an average sale-to-list ratio of 101.4% for May. Redfin's September report for the county has not been released yet; its live trends page shows an early, preliminary September median of $404,096, up 5.0% year over year, and we will treat it as final only once the full report confirms it.

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, with 414 homes sold in May, down from 444 in May 2025, and its trend chart points to a June median of $373,945, up 3.9%. 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. A current county-level sale-to-list ratio was not available in a form we could confirm, so we have not stated one. One difference worth noting: while Lake County inventory has grown over the past year, McHenry County's pending listings stood at 519 in August, and the active listing count was down about 7% from a year earlier, so its inventory picture has been tightening even as Lake's has eased. Illinois REALTORS released its September report on October 22, but we could not confirm county-level figures for either county in time for this update, and we will post them as soon as we can verify them.

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 7.24% as of October 29, down a touch from 7.32% the prior week and about 1.07 percentage points above where it stood a year ago (6.17%). 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. Prices in both counties are rising at a steady, sustainable pace, well-priced homes are still selling at a reasonable clip, and buyers in Lake County have more to choose from than they did a year ago. 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.