Inventory Is Finally Loosening — So Why Are Prices Still Climbing?

For over a year, the story in DuPage County has been the same: almost nothing on the market, and whatever hits it gets bid up fast. That finally started to change this summer. Months of supply across the county nearly doubled between March and August. If you stopped reading right there, you'd assume the leverage has shifted toward buyers.

It hasn't. Not yet, and not by much. Here's what the data actually shows, and why "more inventory" and "a buyer's market" are two very different things.

THE NUMBER THAT'S ABOUT TO GET MISREAD

DuPage County's months of supply, a single-family read on how long current inventory would last at the current sales pace, sat at 1.1 months in March 2026. By July it hit 1.8, and it held at 1.7 in August. Wheaton followed the same arc: 0.6 months in March, 1.2 by August - literally double.

That's a real, meaningful loosening. It's also worth putting in context: a balanced market, where buyers and sellers have roughly equal leverage, sits at 6 months of supply. DuPage isn't a third of the way there. It's not even a third of a third.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO PRICE

If rising supply were starting to hand leverage to buyers, you'd expect to see it show up in two places first: sellers taking less than they're asking, and homes sitting longer. Neither happened.

DuPage's median sales price (rolling 12 months, single family) climbed from $407,000 in August 2025 to $435,000 in August 2026, up 5.7% year over year. Wheaton did better still: $465,000 to $500,000, up 7.5%. And across every town in this month's data pull, homes are still closing at essentially 100% of their original list price. Median market time in DuPage sits at 13 days; Wheaton, 12.

New listings tell the same story from a different angle. DuPage's new listings through August are running about 4.5% ahead of last year's pace — supply genuinely is showing up. But demand is absorbing it just as fast, which is exactly why months of supply is still sitting under 2 while listings climb. More homes are coming to market. They're just not staying on it.

CORRIDOR WATCH

THIS WEEK IN DUPAGE

★ Wheaton Arts Parade & Festival -  Sun, Sept 27, downtown Wheaton

• B.R. Ryall YMCA Golf Classic - Sept 14, Prairie Landing Golf Club, West Chicago

• Green & Greet Par-Tee mini golf outing - Sept 17, Coyote Crossing Mini Golf Course, Carol Stream

• Rite-Way Custom Homes Business After Hours - Sept 17, 540 Duane St, Glen Ellyn

• Run for the STARS 2026 - Sept 19, College Church, Wheaton

• Fit4Fall 5K - Sept 19, Reed-Keppler Park, West Chicago

• Glen Ellyn Lions Pasta Dinner - Sept 19, Barone's of Glen Ellyn

• Sunday Music Matinees - Sept 20, Warrenville Public Library

• Healthy Heroes Kids Fair - Sept 26, Warrenville Park District

• “The 39 Steps” (WeGo Drama) - Sept 26–27, West Chicago Community High School

THE BOTTOM LINE

DuPage's supply squeeze is easing for the first time in a long while - but easing from historically extreme tightness isn't the same as arriving anywhere close to balanced. Prices, market time, and list-to-sale ratios all still say sellers hold the leverage. That won't last forever. If you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for competition to thin out before you list, the data says that window is still open - but it's the first month it's started, even slightly, to close.

Questions about what this means for your street specifically? I'm easy to reach.