According to the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, 2018 should be a stronger year for the Chicago real estate market. However, concerns over property tax increases and the overall financial stability of Illinois could put a damper on the market’s growth.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported on a speech NAR’s Lawrence Yun gave at a meeting with the members of the Main Street Organization of Realtors, in which he forecast a 10 percent increase in home sales volume and home prices for 2018. He pointed to the job growth in the Chicagoland area, which is about 2 percent above the pre-bust peak. Job creation is expected to keep moving forward, but the question remains as to how fast that growth will continue.

According to a release from NAR, low levels of housing supply throughout the nation over the summer has put a damper on the momentum.

“The supply and affordability headwinds would have likely held sales growth just a tad above last year, but coupled with the temporary effects from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, sales in 2017 now appear will fall slightly below last year,” said Yun in the press release.

Case Shiller recently released its National Home Price Index, which found Chicago home prices to rise 3.3 percent in July compared with the previous year. Compared to other major metro areas, Chicago is still dragging behind. Condo sales grew by 3.9 percent during the same time frame.

Chicago home prices still have time work to do to get back to the previous peak set about 11 years ago.