North Side Home Buyers Caught in a Vise as Prices Rise
(Above) Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, where median home prices increased 25.7 percent in July 2025, compared with July 2024, but home...
Don DeBat
Aug 17
North Side Condo Prices Skyrocket 9.3 Percent in Q2
Dwindling inventory and strong buyer demand pushed the median sales price of an attached home on the North Side to a new record. By Don...
Don DeBat
Aug 10
Chicago’s May Resale Home Market was a Chess Game
The Chicago North Side home resale market has transformed into a tense battleground, with buyers scrambling to secure properties as...
Don DeBat
Jun 17
Falling Commercial Property Values Mean Higher Taxes for Homeowners
(Above) Google Street View of 200 West Monroe Street in the Loop. Valued at $100 million when purchased in 2014, the 23-story building...
Don DeBat
Jun 3
Apartment Renters and Landlords Battle Over Move-In Fees
A conflict is brewing between landlords and tenants in Chicago’s North Side apartment rental market over non-refundable move-in fees. A...
Don DeBat
May 17
Record Number of Property Tax Appeals Filed for Tax Year 2024
Appeals increased by 11 percent over 2023 as property owners in Chicago and surrounding suburbs turned to the Cook County Board of Review...
Don DeBat
Apr 13
Cook County Assessor Scrambles to Fix Tax Data Integrity
An investigation reveals significant misclassifications in Cook County property assessments, with many properties incorrectly valued or...
Don DeBat
Mar 23
Chicago Home Buyers May Have to Wait Years for 5 Percent Rates
By Don DeBat Chicago home buyers may have to look at the housing market through long-range binoculars if they hope to see affordable...
Don DeBat
Mar 4
Memories of Cabrini-Green and Halsted St. in the 1950s
Don & Chester DeBat at 1649 N. Halsted Garden late 1950s By Don DeBat Cabrini-Green has created lasting memories for many long-time Old...
Don DeBat
Mar 3
$14 Million Approved for Rebirth of Cabrini-Green
(Above) Rendering by Pappageorge Haymes Partners of 57 West Oak Street. (Click on image to view larger version.) The Chicago City...
Don DeBat
Feb 22
Developers Tried to Save Cabrini-Green Two Decades Ago
A building on North Hudson Avenue at Cabrini-Green in 1989. Photo by Camilo J. Vergara As the Chicago Housing Authority prepares to build...
Don DeBat
Feb 20
Cabrini-Green Rebirth Planned on Edge of Gold Coast
(Above) 534 West Division Street in the Cabrini-Green housing project, photographed in 1998 by Camilo J. Vergara (Library of Congress)....
Don DeBat
Feb 14
