The Chicago suburbs are back!

Though the pandemic has wrought absolute misery for the urban center, tony suburbs outside Chicago are witnessing a real estate revival.

Whereas a year ago it was undeniable that the suburban scene was sluggish, homes are flying off the market across several price brackets, agents told Crain’s.

City residents whose homes lack size and outdoor space are plucking homes in Glenview, Wilmette and Winnetka, according to data from the Chicago Association of Realtors and Midwest Real Estate Data.

“We don’t think they’re fleeing the city,” Dream Town agent Marty Walsh told Crain’s. “They’re changing to meet this new normal, where everybody’s working at home and the kids are doing remote learning. They can’t do all that where they’ve been living.”
While suburban real estate agents have plenty of anecdotal examples of the suburban market picking up, the data doesn’t yet show it. That’s because most of the deals that closed in July were from much earlier in the pandemic, and don’t reflect the higher level of activity in recent months.

Danielle Moy, an agent with @properties in Orland Park, told Crain’s that if it’s priced right, it sells in a week or two. [Crain’s] – James Kleimann