Chicago's North Center Residential Market Saw Rising Prices, Slower Sales Pace at Start of 2019
January home sales in Chicago's North Center neighborhood took a step back from the robust pace seen in January 2018.
- Chicago, IL (1888PressRelease) February 22, 2019 - January residential property sales in Chicago’s North Center community took a step back from the exceptionally brisk pace seen a year earlier but remained at historically robust levels.
Like the broader Chicago housing market, North Center saw somewhat fewer sales and longer market times for properties, but unlike the city as a whole, North Center registered higher median sales prices in all three residential categories when compared to the same month last year. The three residential categories are detached homes, attached homes and two-to-four-unit buildings. Detached homes are single-family houses; attached homes are primarily townhouses and condominium apartments.
January sales of detached homes totaled 14 units, 26.3% less than the 19 units sold a year earlier, while there were 13 sales of attached homes, 13.3% less than the 15 units sold in January 2018. There were five sales of two-to-four-unit buildings in January, down from 8 in 2018. Median prices, however, were on the rise, with detached homes gaining 21% to $1,150,000; attached homes gaining 4.7% to $450,000 and two-to-four-unit buildings up 16.8% to $620,000.
The North Center area runs from Diversey Parkway north to Montrose Avenue and from Ravenswood Avenue west to the Chicago River and includes the neighborhoods of Roscoe Village and Northcenter/St. Ben’s.
“North Center sales activity was quite strong in early 2018, in part due to mild weather and a fairly buoyant economy,” explained Mary Jo Nathan, a broker associate with The Wilcox Company who did the analysis of North Center sales. Ms. Nathan has specialized in residential properties on Chicago’s North Side for nearly two decades. “This year the weather was more challenging, as were the market dynamics. Buyers were uncertain about the general economy after the financial markets incurred sharp declines in December and early January, as well as the possibility of higher property taxes in Chicago as the city struggles to get a handle on its pension obligations.”
Ms. Nathan noted that while many real estate professionals expect home sales in 2019 to lag recent years, her outlook has become somewhat more optimistic thanks to continued job growth and the likelihood that interest rates will rise more slowly than many forecasters have expected.
“The financial markets seemed to panic a bit when interest rates began rising in the last half of 2018, and the Federal Reserve appears to have taken note and eased off a bit, so I’m looking for fairly stable interest rates on mortgages for the next five months or so,” she said.
January sales of detached homes were heavily concentrated in the $1 million and up price range, with just four homes selling for less than that amount, including one property with severe structural problems that required a teardown. The top priced sale in the detached category was at $1,715,000 for a home in the 2100 block of Bradley Place.
Attached homes sold in a range from $240,000 up to $650,000, while in the multi-unit category, two-unit sales ranged from $545,000 to $805,000, while a single three-flat sold for $940,000.
The Wilcox Company, founded in 1967, provides a full range of real estate brokerage, appraisal and property management services. Its offices are at 2157 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, in the heart of North Center. To learn more, visit our website at www.thewilcoxcompany.com.
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