What i’m seeing in the fox valley market heading into fall

I spent years shooting real estate in Omaha before relocating here to build this business in the Fox Valley. That work taught me how to read a market fast. What buyers respond to. What makes a listing sit. What makes it move. Here's what I'm seeing in this market heading into fall, backed by the most recent numbers published by the REALTOR® Association of the Fox Valley.

Prices are up, but this isn't a runaway market.

RAFV's most recent regional report puts the median sold price across the Fox Valley at $415,000, up a modest 2% from a year ago. That's steady growth, not a spike. Closed sales are up 12% over the same period, so more homes are changing hands, but homes are also taking a bit longer to sell, averaging 33 days on market compared to 28 last year. Read together, this looks like a market finding a more balanced pace rather than one running hot.

This is an active market, not a cautious one.

More sales are closing, and buyers are still out there competing for the right homes, even if that competition has eased slightly from last year's pace. That's exactly the kind of market where the media on a listing carries more weight. When a buyer's choosing between several homes they're seriously considering, the one with the strongest photos, the clearest floor plan, and a real walkthrough is the one that gets the showing.

Why this matters for how I work.

My job isn't just showing up with a camera. It's understanding what's happening in this market well enough to help the agents I work with make a listing perform the way it should. In a market that's moderating rather than running hot, a listing doesn't get a second chance to make a first impression. That's the gap between a couple of phone photos and a properly shot, well lit listing with a real walkthrough, and it's the gap I want to help close for agents working the Fox Valley right now.

If you're an agent listing anywhere in St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Elgin, Huntley, Algonquin, Carpentersville, or Hampshire this fall, I'd like to be the media partner who helps that listing perform in a market that's finding its footing.

Source: REALTOR® Association of the Fox Valley Regional Market Report, July 2026 (the most recent report available at time of writing; RAFV publishes monthly, with roughly a one-month lag as sales data is compiled).