Chicagoland Home Prices at Record Levels

Demand for homes in Chicagoland is inching up home prices to all time highs.

The median sale price for homes sold in the Windy City during April breached $411,000, according to Crain’s, who cited Illinois Realtors data. That’s an increase of a little over 5 percent, which is good enough to set a record for highest recorded median price for a home. The first time Chicago saw the median price exceed $400,000 was in March.

April also set records for the nine-county metro area, with a median price of $390,000, the highest for any month on record as well.

Across the nation, median home pricing was up 0.9 percent in April, with Chicago area homes up a smidge over four percent. That means Chicago’s city limits saw a median sale price surge more than four times the median price for the rest of the nation, according to the National Association of Realtors.

It would be natural to assume that as prices rise, it takes a bit more time to find a buyer. Stunningly, the average days homes spend on the market in the city is down by four days year over year, according to the outlet. For the wider metro area, it’s only down one day. As for luxury homes, they’re selling faster too, according to a Redfin report.

Chicago’s market is surging, but the amount of sellers hasn’t. Home inventory barely moved despite the price increase, and bidding wars have become “absolutely insane” in North Side neighborhoods. Redfin data indicates that 70 percent of homes sold in March went over initial asking prices, with an average premium just north of $60,000.

The sheer amount of demand has led to bidding wars and some buyers have reportedly waived inspections.

“It’s the best seller’s market that I’ve seen since I’ve been in real estate, especially for those neighborhoods [Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wicker Park and Bucktown],” said Danielle Dowell, leader of DoWell Group at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, to TRD in April.

— Hunter Cooke