[Photo by typesett via curbed flickrpool]
The 3rd Quarter RentJuice Chicago Rent Index is out, and guess what... rents are a'risin! The best, most thorough, compilation of rental data available, RentJuice's report showed September rents with an average citywide bump of 0.43% over June. The priciest neighborhoods are all downtown, with Streeterville at the top at $2,006/mo and the West Loop just behind at $1,959. The West Loop was also the only top five neighborhood to see a dip in average rent. A more meaningful ranking is price per square foot, where the Gold Coast excelled at $2.71, way, way above Streeterville's $2.34. Popular 'hood Lincoln Park was a relative bargain at $1.80, and Wicker a steal at $1.37. Another of the report's measures was percentage change over the quarter. By this measure, Lincoln Square was tops with 5.8%, or 23.2% annualized. Though rents in that fast-changing 'hood are still just half of Streeterville's.
New to this index are walk scores. Overall, Chicago rentals are in highly walkable areas, with 90% garnering an 80 or higher (80 being 'good'). Over half have walk scores in the 90s, with River North and the Gold Coast leading the pack. This is important to track because walkability influences pricing. If you spend less on gas, or forgo cars altogether, that's extra income toward rent. What, you thought you were saving it?
The RentJuice Rent Index gathers its data from a large real-time database, pooling entries from landlords, property managers, and the RentJuice team. It is not based on polling or samples of large property owners. Access the full report and drown in appendices...
·The Chicago Rent Index [RentJuice]
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