RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate: Market Moved to Higher Ground in 2014

CHICAGO - Jan. 26, 2015 - PRLog -- The luxury home segment in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market moved to higher ground in 2014.  Both total transactions and the median sales price increased, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate, a periodic analysis of $1-million-plus home sales in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

Luxury home sales in 2014 totaled 2,171 units, 7 percent more than in the prior year.  The median sales price for homes selling at $1 million or more was $1,355,000, an increase of 2 percent over 2013.  Luxury properties were also selling more quickly, requiring just 131 days to find a buyer compared to 160 in 2013.

Chicago Luxury Home Sales

The City of Chicago had 1,012 luxury sales, a 12 percent increase, and those sales represented 47 percent of the total 2014 metro luxury market.  The median sales price gained 4 percent to $1,419,500, and average market time shrank to 108 days from 141 in 2013.

Detached homes represented 51 percent of city luxury transactions at 517 units, a 7 percent increase compared to 2013.  The median sales price rose 8 percent to $1,462,500.  Average market time shortened to 88 days from 120 the previous year.

Six city communities – Lake View, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Near North, North Center and West Town – accounted for 89 percent of all detached luxury sales.   However, sales trends in those communities varied substantially.  Transactions for the year rose in three of the communities, including gains of 57 percent in West Town, 27 percent in Logan Square and 15 percent in Lake View, but North Center and Lincoln Park saw fewer sales, and the Near North total was unchanged.

The median sales price rose in four areas:  Lake View, up 3 percent; Lincoln Park, up 22 percent; Logan Square, up 20 percent, and Near North, up 36 percent.  The median price slipped 1 percent in North Center and 9 percent in West Town.

There were 495 sales of attached homes, primarily condominium apartments and townhouses, in the city during 2014, a robust 19 percent increase over the 2013 total.  The median sales price for an attached city home climbed 1 percent to $1,400,000, and the average market time was 128 days, down from 166 the prior year.

Together, the communities of Lincoln Park, the Loop and Near North accounted for 89 percent of all luxury attached sales in the city in 2014.  Total transactions were sharply higher in Lincoln Park, up 83 percent, and Near North, up 10 percent, but were down 6 percent in the Loop.  The median sales price was up 5 percent in the Loop and Lincoln Park but Near North had a 4 percent decline.

Suburban Luxury Home Sales

Luxury transactions in the Chicago suburbs increased 2 percent in 2014 to 1,159 units, and the median sales price climbed 1 percent to $1,300,000.   Average market time shortened to 152 days from 175 in 2013.

Among individual suburbs, Winnetka was the luxury home leader with 138 sales at a median price of $1,485,000, followed by Wilmette, where 118 luxury homes changed hands at a median price of $1,342,750.  Hinsdale, the 2013 leader, came in third among luxury markets in 2014 with 116 transactions at a median price of $1,551,500.  Next on the list was Lake Forest, with 97 transactions at a median of $1,355,000, followed by Glenview, with 68 transactions at a median price of $1,194,000.

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 2,200 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 the network and about residential and commercial property for sale in the region.  The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 90,000+ sales associates in 90+ nations.