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Chicago housing prices are on the rise. Here’s why
The recent uptick comes despite the continued stay-at-home order that will keep nonessential businesses shuttered through the month
Home prices in Chicago are on the rise, a combination of tight supply from the coronavirus crisis and a recent uptick in showings that has resulted in multiple offers on a single property.
Over the last several weeks, the median price of homes sold in the Chicago area was higher than the corresponding period in 2019, according to a new report from Midwest Real Estate Data cited in Crain’s. The report showed that in the last seven days ending May 11, the median home price was up 2.9 percent from the same period in 2019, Crain’s reported.
“It’s been very busy, kind of crazy,” @properties agent Ryan Main told the outlet.
Boosting demand has been the drop in supply. The number of single-family houses on the market plummeted to 2,760 in the week that ended May 2, the lowest number at any time since January 2007, according to the Crain’s report. The number of city condos and townhouses on the market also declined.
But the coronavirus, which has led to a surge in virtual showings as Chicago remains under a stay-at-home order, has had an effect on the housing market.
Recent data from the Chicago Association of Realtors showed fewer Chicagoans were willing to pull the trigger on a home purchase from late March through mid-April. Roughly 330 residential properties went into contract in each of the three weeks before April 18 compared to 674 homes that went into contract for the week ending March 7, before the falloff.
New listings were also chopped in half: 588 homes hit the market in each of the three weeks before April 18. That compared to 1,313 new listings that went on the market in the first week of March.
Weekly luxury home sale prices have also slid. The five priciest sales each week in Chicago generally total around $10 million, well below what they had been before the coronavirus took hold. Last week, however, was an exception. That total — $14.4 million — was from by the $8.4 million sale of a 6,200-square-foot combined condo unit at Park Towers.
Globally, the first quarter saw prices for high-end homes fall in many cities, including New York, London and Beijing, according to a Knight Frank report on luxury home prices. Prices did rise in cities like Taipei and Stockholm. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman