Once an easy sell, North Shore’s lakefront mansions languishing on the market

Even though the Chicago area’s ultra-luxury home market posted a record year in 2018, not every part of the region was thriving.

Lakefront mansions on the North Shore are taking longer to sell and are no longer commanding the top-dollar prices they traditionally have, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Homes on Lake Michigan generally have a 45 percent price premium over the surrounding area, Jena Radnay of @properties told the Journal. But that premium is being put to the test in Chicago’s increasingly weak housing market.

There are about 300 lakefront homes in the North Shore. Those that were listed saw an average 132 days on the market in 2018, with the priciest sale coming in at $7 million. In 2015, the average home sat on the market for 98.5 days, and three homes sold for at least $10 million.

One homeowner who talked to the Journal bought her lakefront home for $2.3 million in 1998 before listing it for $9.7 million in 2007. She is now asking $4.7 million.

The crop of older homes, some built on sprawling estates by Chicago’s titans of industry, are falling out of favor with some buyers who want modern amenities and open floor plans if they are to shell out millions on a home. The area’s distance from Downtown isn’t helping either, as more buyers — and renters — look to live closer to where they work. [WSJ] — Joe Ward