The 11 detached, single-family homes sold in Lemont during December was up 57 percent from the number of homes sold in December 2011, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors (MORe).

The median price of Lemont homes sold in December ($352,500) was up 23.3 percent from the median price of homes sold in December 2011 ($286,000).

The market for detached, single-family homes in suburbs throughout west suburban Cook, DuPage and Will counties saw growth in December, MORe reported. MORe gets its statistics from Midwest Real Estate Data. 

Overall across the Chicago suburbs, sales of single-family detached homes rose 17.1 percent in December over the same month in 2011, according to MORe. 

MORe predicts January will be another month of local housing market growth, as the number of detached homes under contract in December 2012 was 58.3 percent higher than in December 2011. 

“We are cautiously optimistic for 2013, but that doesn’t mean people should wait to take advantage of this market,” said Tonya Corder, president of MORe and managing broker of Keller Williams Preferred Realty in Orland Park. “Interest rates will rise as the economy improves, making it more expensive to finance the purchase of a home.”

Although Lemont is located in Cook County, because its municipal borders bump up against both Will and DuPage counties, we are including data from nearby communities in all three counties in the chart below.

Source: Mainstreet Organization of Realtors

—Patch editor Lauren Williamson contributed to this story.