Chicago's housing market is heating up with home sale prices in January rising 7.9% compared to the same time last year according to a recent report from analyst Alex Starace published by Redfin. The number of home sales during the same period was up 3.4% at 3152 total transactions, but the inventory — the actual number of houses on the market — has seen less than one percent growth since January of 2015. With more buyers making competitive offers on the same limited number of available properties, it is easy to see why home prices have trended upwards. Another factor may be that only high quality stock is selling in certain areas while lesser quality homes languish on the market. While the citywide average data paints a broad picture of Chicago's home sale market, the report also highlighted a number of neighborhoods as notable trend-setters and outliers.
The largest year-to-year mover was the Tri-Taylor area which saw an unprecedented jump of 91.1% in median home sale price which Starace attributes largely to new single-family construction such as the Eco Square project. Edgewater fared second best with an increase of 37.9%. While the city's average home sale price was $224,500, Chicago's most expensive neighborhood was Bucktown with homes going for $560,000. Roscoe Village, Ukrainian Village, and North Center rounded-out the past year's priciest neighborhoods as the only four communities with an average home sale price to break the half-million dollar mark. When it came to transaction speed, home sales moved the quickest in Chicago's hot West Loop neighborhood with properties selling after an average of only 12 days on the market — three times faster than the city's average sale time of 36 days.
To see how your area fared over this past year be sure to check out the neighborhood breakdown included in the report. It includes data such as median sale price, year-over-year change, available inventory, and more.
·Chicago Home Prices Rise Nearly 8 Percent as Buyers Grow Competitive [Redfin]
·Market Report archive [Curbed Chicago]