The residential real estate market slowdown amid rising interest rates moved the goalposts for former Chicago Blackhawk Brandon Bollig’s exit price from a River North condo.
He hung up his skates in 2018 after an eight year career that included a Stanley Cup championship with the Blackhawks in 2013. But his latest real estate deal wasn’t such a big win, as the former left wing slashed his price nearly 9 percent since initially listing a condo at 360 West Illinois Street for $1.2 million in August, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Bollig, who played three seasons in Chicago and also skated for the Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and Nashville Predators organizations, is now asking $1.095 million for the unit amid a downturn for the River North condo market compared to last year’s record activity.
River North condo sales this year tally 154 so far, down 38 percent from 2021, which was a record year for residential real estate, according to Redfin. Meanwhile, the neighborhood’s median sale price of $410,000 is down 3.5 percent from last year and homes are sitting on the market an average of 78 days, 32 more than last year.
Bollig is now working as a commercial real estate agent with M&I Realty of @properties, with listings for midmarket mixed-use properties in Chicago, and listed the condo with Carrie McCormick of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate.
He, and his wife Dannah, are also commercial landlords, and renovated and redesigned the 2,300-square-foot condo after purchasing it for $810,000 in 2014, finishing the project right before the pandemic shut down businesses. Though he was traded to Calgary just weeks after they bought the unit, the couple made it their full-time home upon his retirement. They’re selling to move closer to family.
A series of price cuts since the unit was first listed appear to have taken place from an online listing, highlighting the adjustment to the pace of residential real estate markets in Chicago and nationwide since summertime, when the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes aimed at battling inflation began to thin buyer pools.
— Sam Lounsberry