Median home prices in the city of Chicago shot up 19.4 percent in December from a year earlier, and sales of existing homes jumped 14.6 percent, according to the latest report from the Illinois Association of Realtors.

The median price rose a smaller 4.5 percent in the Chicago metropolitan area, and sales spiked 19.2 percent.

 

The report showed the median price in the city rose to $185,000, in December, up from $155,000 in the year-ago period. There were 1,806 homes sold, up from 1,576.

In the Chicago metropolitan area, the median price rose to $151,500 last month, up from $145,000 in December 2011. Home sales totaled 7,372, up from 6,184.

“Positive signs for the housing market continue,” Geoffrey Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois, said in a statement.

“The housing market is likely to experience some bumpiness in the first quarter of the year until there is resolution of the fiscal challenges in Washington and Springfield.

Consumers are unlikely to explore major purchases, such as a home, when tax rates, mortgage interest deductions and pension obligations remain unresolved, he added