Sales of existing homes in the Chicago area rose appreciably in December from the previous month but were still down almost 10 percent from their year-ago comparison, the Illinois Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

For the year though, thanks to a tax credit that helped sales during the first six months, Chicago-area sales of single-family homes and condos were down only 0.5 percent from 2009, to 69,010 homes sold last year. The median price of $185,000 in 2010 was a 5.6 percent drop from the previous year but the declines in median price varied widely across the area. Get the full story »