RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate: Shorter Market Times, Higher Prices Characterized $1 Million-Plus Market in Jan.-April Period

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May 29, 2014, 05:29 ET

CHICAGO, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago-area luxury home market continued to gain ground over the first four months of 2014. After getting off to a fast start in January and February, the market for homes selling for $1 million or more in the metropolitan Chicago real estate market moved at a more relaxed pace during March and April, according to the bi-monthly RE/MAX Luxury Report on Chicago Real Estate.

The RE/MAX Luxury Report looks at home sales of $1 million or more in the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will, and is based on transaction information from Midwest Real Estate Data LLC, the regional multiple listing service.

In the seven-county metro area, the median sales price for homes that closed at $1 million or more in March and April was $1.33 million, up 1 percent when compared to the same period last year. For the first four months of 2014, the median price gained 2 percent and was $1.36 million.

The time required to sell a luxury home has also been notably shorter this year. The average number of days on the market for luxury homes sold in the January-April period was 147 days, compared to 218 days during the same four months last year. That translates into a 10-week reduction in sales time.

The total number of luxury homes sold over the first four months of the year totaled 471, which is 9 percent more than the comparable period in 2013.

Chicago Luxury Home Sales

Luxury home sales in Chicago continued to trend upward through the January- April period, with 250 units changing hands. That is 21 percent more than a year earlier. The median sales price showed little change, gaining less than 1 percent, while average days on the market fell to 129 days this year from 217 a year ago.

Attached units, primarily condo apartments and townhouses, accounted for 55 percent of luxury sales in the city, based on 137 closings. The median sales price of $1.35 million was 3 percent lower than during the same four-month period in 2013. The average market time for attached homes fell to 145 days from 250 days a year ago.

Luxury sales of attached homes rose in the three communities that dominate the Chicago market: the Loop, Near North Side and Lincoln Park. Together, those three areas accounted for 127 of the 137 luxury attached sales in the city during the first four months of 2014.

The detached home segment of Chicago's luxury market recorded a 14 percent increase in sales activity during the January-April period, with 113 sales, compared to 99 for the same four months in 2013. The median sales price advanced 9 percent to $1.49 million, and the average market time shortened from 182 days last year to 109 days this year.

Six communities – Lake View, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, the Near North Side, North Center, and West Town – captured 87 percent of the luxury detached sales. The median sales price climbed in all six of those areas, led by Logan Square which saw a 57 percent rise in the luxury median price to $1.65 million.

Suburban Luxury Home Sales

In Chicago's suburban areas, the number of homes sold for $1 million or more from January through April held steady, with 221 homes changing hands, compared to 226 a year earlier. The median sales price gained 3 percent to $1.3 million. Average market time fell to 168 days, 51 days less than in January-April, 2013.

Lake Forest remained the most active suburban luxury market during the first four months of 2014, recording 29 sales. Next was Hinsdale with 21 sales and Winnetka with 20. Other suburban communities with 10 or more luxury sales during the period were Wilmette, Glencoe, Glenview and the Barrington area.

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 provides comprehensive information 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.