Chicago's North Side Housing Market Sees Early Bidding Wars

Competition for homes in Chicago’s hottest neighborhoods took off in January after a sleepy December, kicking off an early spring frenzy for limited inventory.

Neighborhoods like Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park are seeing massive demand and bidding wars for premium properties in the first month of the year, according to real estate agents who work in the areas. Conventional wisdom says March and April are Chicago’s busiest months of the year, but the surge has moved earlier this year, as pent-up demand, low inventory and dropping mortgage rates fuel a hot seller’s market.

“January is the new April,” said Matt Laricy, managing broker at Americorp and one of Chicago’s top agents in 2025. “Boomer mentality thinks April is the hottest month. [Now,] January and February are the two hottest months in Chicago.”

To prove the point, Laricy said he had a listing for a two-bedroom unit in Lakeview at $899,000. The winning offer on the property was $972,000 — about 8 percent over its asking price.

It’s the same story with most well-priced units in the North Side, Laricy said, where receiving 15 offers on a listing is common, and buyers can expect to pay $50,000 to $75,000 over the asking price.

Owen Duffy, a Fulton Grace agent who specializes in new construction, said his listings went from a couple of people at open houses in December to 20 or more groups coming through in the first weekend of January.

“It’s just like someone flips a switch, and the first of January comes, and it just goes,” he said.

Tim Sheahan, a Compass agent who also specializes in new developments, said he sold out three separate new developments — with 26 units in total — in recent days, with most of the contracts coming in January. One 12-unit project in Lincoln Park drew more than 150 people for tours, he said.

“This has been absolutely one of the top two or three [Januaries] that I’ve seen,” Sheahan said.

Less inventory, more buyers

The primary driver of the competition is a persistent lack of inventory in the North Side neighborhoods. Homeowners clinging to 3 percent mortgage rates are staying put, and new construction is hard to come by, Sheahan said. Mortgage rates are about a point lower than they were a year ago, he said, giving people more buying power.

Meanwhile, new buyers are competing with people who didn’t lock down a property in the fall and are willing to pay a premium, Laricy said.

“Backlog buyers are buyers who’ve been looking since September, October, and they’ve been waiting for one to come up,” he said. “When one pops up, they get nervous and they overpay for it.”

The high-stakes environment means buyers need to act fast to lock down homes that go under contract in a matter of days, brokers said. For properties listed this month in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Wicker Park and nearby neighborhoods, dozens went under contract within a week of being listed, listing services show.

“Every property is going to sell in 24 to 48 hours or less. And you get to see them for five minutes, so get used to that,” Laricy said.

Duffy said he’s had buyers look at units in his developments, then spend a week or two looking at what else is on the market. “When they’ve come back, then their units are gone,” he said. “If you’re not ready to jump on something almost right away, it’s tough. You will lose it.”

Agents said they don’t expect the level of demand in the North Side neighborhoods to slow down over the spring. With few people moving out of homes with low-interest mortgages, Sheahan said new developments are the main source of new inventory.

“A lot of the inventory that’s out there is inventory we’ve created by building,” he said. “But it’s tough to find building sites, projects take a while, so that … inventory is a little bit limited. The level of demand is going to remain strong.”