RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate: City Led $1 Million-Plus Market to Home Sales Increase in 3rd Quarter

ELGIN, Ill., Oct. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury-home sales in metropolitan Chicago registered a slight gain during the third quarter of 2017, with the city market leading the way. According to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate, third-quarter sales were 1.8 percent higher than last year, totaling 741 units. Over the first nine-months of this year, luxury-home sales were 10 percent higher than the same period last year, with 2,095 properties changing hands.

The median sales price of a luxury home in the third quarter was $1,310,000, down 1.7 percent from a year earlier, while the average market time for those residences was 162 days, up from 136 days last year.

The inventory of homes priced at $1 million or more was 5 percent lower at the end of September than it was 12 months earlier.

"The quarter just ended underscored a fairly stable luxury market," explained Chris Calomino, marketing communications manager for RE/MAX Northern Illinois.  "Over the last four years, third-quarter sales have held in a narrow range, with a high of 742 units in 2015 and a low of 728 units in 2016. An encouraging sign this quarter was the decline in luxury inventory because we've seen a significant increase in luxury listings over the last few years."

The RE/MAX Luxury Report is a quarterly analysis of $1 million-plus home sales in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties based on data compiled by Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).

City of Chicago Luxury Sales

In Chicago, third-quarter luxury-home sales totaled 356 units, 15.6 percent more than the same period in 2016, and the median sales price fell 3 percent to $1,342,500.  Average market time was 112 days, up from 105 days a year earlier. 

Sales during the quarter were especially strong in the attached-home category, which includes condominium, townhouse and cooperative units. Attached luxury sales totaled 178 units, up 26 percent from the same quarter last year. Average market time fell to 100 days, from 107 days last year, and the median sales price slipped 1.5 percent to $1,322,419.

The gain in attached sales was a welcome response to a growing roster of luxury attached properties for sale in the city. That inventory rose to 629 units at the end of the third quarter, up from 470 last year and nearly double the 322 luxury attached units on the market four years earlier.

Sales of attached luxury properties during the quarter were particularly brisk in Lincoln Park. The 34 units sold there represented a 79 percent increase over the prior year, and the median price rose 15 percent to $1,351,250.

Third-quarter sales of detached luxury homes in the city gained 6.6 percent to 178 units. The median sales price fell 3.6 percent to $1,350,000, and average market time was 123 days, up from 102 days a year ago.

After trailing North Center during the first half of the year, Lincoln Park reemerged as the busiest city community for detached luxury sales, with 45 units sold during the quarter, up 7.1 percent over last year. The median sales price was $1,660,000, rising 5.4 percent.

North Center sales gained 12.9 percent to 35 units, with a median price of $1,270,000. The other major communities for luxury sales were Lake View, where there were 32 sales at a median price of $1,525,000, and West Town, which had 28 sales at a median price of $1,242,500.

Suburban Luxury Sales

The suburban luxury market essentially reversed course in the third quarter, recording modest losses in place of the gains it delivered during the second quarter.

Third-quarter sales fell 8.3 percent to 385 units after rising 9 percent in the prior quarter. The median sales price fell 0.4 percent to $1,295,000 after a second-quarter gain of 1.2 percent, and average market time, which fell 9 days in the prior quarter, increased a sizeable 51 days.

Winnetka regained its place as the suburb with the most luxury sales after losing that title to Hinsdale during the second quarter. Winnetka recorded 48 third-quarter transactions; Hinsdale had 44.

Rounding out the top 10 suburbs for third-quarter luxury sales were Wilmette with 32, Lake Forest with 31, Glenview with 23, Evanston with 22, Glencoe with 17, Elmhurst with 13, the Barrington area with 11 and tied for 10^th with 10 sales each were Highland Park and Northbrook.

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 105 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 115,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations. 

CONTACT:
Chris Calomino
RE/MAX Northern Illinois
847-428-4200

SOURCE RE/MAX Northern Illinois