RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate: More and Faster Sales for $1 Million-Plus Residential Market in 2013

CHICAGO, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury homes sold in greater number and more quickly during 2013 in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market even as the median sales price held steady, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Chicago Real Estate, a bi-monthly analysis of home sales at $1 million plus.  The metro area includes the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will. 

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Sales were brisk, with 2,038 luxury properties changing hands; 33 percent more luxury homes sold during the year than in 2012.  The average time it took for those $1 million-plus homes sold in 2013 to find a buyer was 160 days, down from 223 days in the prior year.  The median sales price held at $1,325,000.

Chicago Luxury Home Sales

In Chicago, total luxury sales were up 26 percent for the year to 900 units, and the median sales price climbed 0.4 percent to $1,370,000.  The average market time shrank to 141 days, compared to 195 days in 2012. 

Activity in the Chicago luxury market shifted somewhat in 2013, with detached homes accounting for 54 percent of sales while sales of attached homes represented 46 percent.  In 2012, 51 percent of luxury sales were in the attached category; 49 percent involved detached residences. 

Not only did detached homes attract the majority of sales activity, they also performed a bit better by other measures.  Detached sales increased 39 percent to 485 units.  The median price of a detached luxury home rose 1 percent to $1,350,500 compared to $1,335,000 in 2012.  Average market time was 120 days last year, down from 167 days in 2012.

In contrast, sales of attached homes rose 13 percent to 415 units, and the median sales price dipped 1 percent to $1,390,020.  Average market time for 2013 was 166 days, down from 221 days in 2012.

The Lincoln Park community remained the city's top area for luxury detached homes, with 166 sales in 2013, up 24 percent from the prior year.  Sales of attached luxury homes were concentrated in the Near North Side community, which had 270 sales in 2013, 65 percent of the citywide total.  

Suburban Luxury Home Sales

In the metro Chicago area outside Chicago, home sales of $1 million or more totaled 1,138 units during 2013, 39 percent more than in 2012.  The median sales price was $1,283,282, down 1 percent from the prior year.  Average market time was 175 days, 72 less than in 2012. 

The five suburban towns with the most luxury home sales were:  Hinsdale with 142 sales and a median sales price of $1,436,000; Winnetka with 133 sales and a median price of $1,515,000; Lake Forest with 104 sales and a median price of $1,290,000; Wilmette with 83 sales and a median price of $1,212,500, and Glencoe, where 71 sales had a median price of $1,400,000.  

RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989.  The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of 2,000 sales associates and 100 individually owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services.  Its www.illinoisproperty.com website provides comprehensive information about the network and about residential and commercial property for sale in the region.  The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, LLC, a global real estate organization with 90,000+ sales associates in 90+ nations. 

Contact: Laura Ortoleva, 847-428-4200, [email protected]

SOURCE RE/MAX Northern Illinois