North Center Housing Market Back on Solid Footing: Sales Surged in 2nd Quarter, Reports The Wilcox Co.

CHICAGO, July 11, 2019 – The housing market in Chicago’s North Center community has regained solid footing thanks to a second-quarter sales surge that effectively erased the impact of an unusually slow first quarter this year, according to an analysis by The Wilcox Company. For the first six months of 2019, total home sales in North Center were down just -1.8% after enduring a first-quarter decline of -22.8%.

There were 76 sales of single-family detached homes in the quarter, 11.8% more than in the same period last year, and the median sales price rose 10% to $1,177,500. Homes sold in the quarter spent an average of 106 days on the market before going under contract, up from 100 days in the same quarter of 2018.

Sales of attached homes, which are condominium apartments and townhouses, increased 11.4% to 147 properties, but the median price slipped a bit, falling -2.3% to $452,000. Average market time shortened to 51 days, from 54 days a year earlier.

The North Center community area extends from Diversey Parkway north to Montrose Avenue and from Ravenswood Avenue west to the Chicago River. It includes the neighborhoods of Roscoe Village and Northcenter/St. Ben’s.

“The stronger second-quarter-sales figures aren’t unexpected, but they certainly are nice to see after the slow pace of sales in the first quarter,” said Mary Jo Nathan, a broker associate with The Wilcox Company who did the analysis of North Center sales using data from MRED, the regional multiple listing service. Ms. Nathan has specialized in residential properties on Chicago’s North Side for nearly two decades. “It’s interesting to note that at the end of June there was an inventory of 76 single-family listings on the market in North Center, which precisely equaled the level of second-quarter sales. So, we have about a three-month supply of homes on the market right now, and that’s a comfortable number, giving buyers a fairly broad selection yet promising sellers a reasonably quick sale if their property is priced accurately.

“The attached market is somewhat more seller friendly with just 104 units on the market on July 1, with 147 sales completed in the second quarter, which is only a two-month supply of listings,” said Nathan. “That’s reflected in the 51-day market time that attached homes enjoyed.”

The quarter also saw a notable upswing in multi-unit sales activity, with 25 properties changing hands. That compared to 19 properties a year earlier and represented a 31.6% increase. The median price dipped -9.8% to $600,000, but average market time shortened significantly, falling to 84 days from 113.

In June, there were 27 single-family sales in North Center ranging from a low of $432,000 for an 1891 two-bedroom frame cottage on Damen Avenue to $2.1 million for a newly built six-bedroom brick home on Hoyne Avenue near Byron Street. Twelve of June’s single-family sales were for at least $1 million.

The attached market recorded 48 June sales starting at $207,500 for an 850-square-foot vintage one-bedroom unit without parking on Grace Street west of Western Avenue to a high of $790,000 for a newly built duplex unit with four bedrooms and two baths on Roscoe Street near Claremont Avenue.

The top multi-unit sale in June was for brick two-flat on a 50-foot lot west of Western that had been converted to a single-family home and came with a guest house containing two rental units. It sold for $1,020,000. The least expensive multi-unit sale was a 1 ½ story cottage also west of Western with two two-bedroom units.

For the entire City of Chicago, second-quarter home sales fell -5.9%, and the median sales price rose 2.3% to $315,000. Sales of single-family homes were off by -7.6% to 2,982, while attached sales fell -5% to 5,348.

Mary Jo Nathan
The Wilcox Company
2157 W. Irving Park Rd.
Chicago, IL 60618
773-398-3814
maryjo@wilcoxco.com

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.

This release was published on openPR.