$1-Million Home And Condo Market On A Roll Chicago’s North Side
The million-dollar single-family home, townhouse, cooperative apartment and condominium market on Chicago’s North Side is on a roll in 2017, statistics show.
Sales of luxury attached and detached homes priced at $1-million or more in Chicago rose 7% to 496 units in the second quarter of 2017, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate.
However, the median sales price slipped 2.2% to $1,342,500 as a rising number of expensive homes hit the market. Chicago’s luxury-home inventory expanded by 26.3% to 1,132 units in the second quarter. Average market time rose to 142 days for homes sold during the quarter, up from 126 days a year earlier.
For luxury detached single-family homes in Chicago, inventory increased a more restrained 10.3%, while sales were up 5.6% to 245 units. The median sales price for a detached home dipped by 2.3% to $1.35 million, and average market time increased by nine days to 159 days.
“The good news is that luxury sales for the quarter were the highest we’ve seen since we began tracking that data in 2011,” said Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois. He noted that the suburban luxury market also showed continued signs of improvement after a slow year in 2016.
“What concerns us is that the growth in the inventory of unsold luxury properties in Chicago has risen significantly this year,” Kreider said. “However, it is encouraging to see that luxury sales in the city did register a modest quarterly gain.”
Here’s a breakdown on sales in Chicago’s hottest luxury home neighborhoods:
• North Center. For the second consecutive quarter, North Center—anchored by top-ranked Bell Elementary School—topped all city neighborhoods in luxury sales with 68 million-dollar homes sold in the second quarter. That’s a gain of 41.7% over the same period last year.
• Lincoln Park. The traditional luxury home sales leader, posh Lincoln Park, recorded sales of 64 million-dollar homes in the second quarter. The number matched the second quarter of last year.
• Lake View. This hot lakefront neighborhood posted sales of 40 homes priced at $1-million or more.
• West Town. Trendy West Town—which features the 606 jogging and biking trail—recorded the sale of 30 million-dollar homes.
Despite strong second-quarter sales, inventory of unsold luxury properties in Chicago at the end of June was nearly twice what it was three years earlier, RE/MAX reported.
The growth in inventory occurred primarily among attached units, which include condominiums, cooperatives and townhouses. The attached luxury inventory rose 44.7% from its year-earlier level to 605 units.
At the same time, attached sales for the quarter gained 9% to 181 units, and the median sales price inched up 0.1 of 1 percentage point to $1,326,400. The quarter’s average market time rose from 92 days last year to 120 days in 2017.
Luxury attached sales were especially strong in the Loop, where they rose 33.3% to 20 units, and in Lincoln Park, where the increase was 17.9% to 33 units.
The RE/MAX Luxury Report is a quarterly analysis of $1 million-plus home sales in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties from data compiled by Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).
Sales of $1-million-plus luxury homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops increased in the metropolitan Chicago area during the second quarter of 2017, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report.
Over all luxury home sales in the second quarter rose 8% to 899 units, and the median sales price was essentially unchanged from last year at $1.3 million.
The inventory of homes priced at $1 million or more was 2.2% higher at the end of June than it had been a year earlier, and during the second quarter, luxury homes sold averaged 167 days on the market, up from 164 days a year ago.
Across the Chicago suburbs, luxury sales increased 9% for the quarter to 473 units. The median sales price gained 1.2% to $1.275 million, while average market time fell to 189 days from 198 days a year earlier. The inventory of 2,041 luxury units was 7.6% lower than a year ago.
Among the suburban communities where luxury homes are most common, the sales picture was mixed. Winnetka and Hinsdale continued their battle for leadership in the luxury market. Hinsdale posted 51 sales compared with 50 for Winnetka. Elmhurst recorded the strongest sales increase, with 18 luxury sales compared to eight a year earlier.
Other luxury markets showing improved sales were Lake Forest, Glenview, the Barrington area, Evanston and Highland Park. Lake Forest also enjoyed the sharpest increase in its median sales price, which rose 15.2% to $1.62 million.
Communities seeing fewer luxury sales in the quarter were Wilmette, Glencoe, Northbrook and Naperville, RE/MAX reported.
For more housing news, visit www.dondebat.biz. Don DeBat is co-author of “Escaping Condo Jail,” the ultimate survival guide for condominium living. Visit www.escapingcondojail.com.
