illi News - North Center Housing Market Heads for Higher Ground in May Boosted by 65% Increase in Attached Sales

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Chicago's North Center community enjoyed robust residential sales during May, led by a 65% increase in sales of attached homes.

CHICAGO - illiNews -- The North Center community enjoyed robust residential sales during May, shaking off what was a notably slow start to the year. Led by a 65% increase in sales of attached homes, there was a total o 84 sales of detached and attached residences in North Center for the month, 35.5% more than during May of last year. Sales of 2-to-4-unit multi-family properties also increased, with nine sales this year compared to seven last May.

The 56 attached sales in North Center compared to 34 a year earlier, but the strong performance of the attached market was not limited to the increase in units sold. The median sales price for attached homes in May was $477,500, up 6.6% from the $448,000 median of last May, and the average market time for homes sold during the month was still a brisk 57 days though that represented a 3-day increase.

The detached home segment of the market recorded 28 sales, exactly matching May 2018, but the median price was up an impressive 14.3% to $1,153,500, while average market time increased 23 days over last year, reflecting the sluggish pace of detached-home sales during the first quarter of this year in North Center when many properties lingered on the market.

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

"The attached market had largely mirrored the sales pace of last year through April, so the big increase we saw in May was somewhat unexpected," commented 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. "There's no question that buyers are attracted to North Center, and attached homes offer the most affordable way to own a home here. This level of demand, if sustained through the summer, will send a message to developers, and that could trigger more new condo projects in those areas where the zoning allows."

Of the attached homes sold in May, all but four were condominium apartment units, and prices ranged from $182,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath unit in a 100-year-old frame building on Belmont Avenue to $1,060,000 for a 9-room, duplex unit with four bedrooms and 3½ baths on Addison Street near Wolcott Avenue.

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The top detached sale in May was $1,831,500 for a three-year old home on Patterson Avenue that offered six bedrooms and five full baths and two half baths, while at the other end of price spectrum sale was an century-old, three-bedroom, frame cottage near Oakley and Belmont that sold for $485,000.

In the multi-unit market, the least expensive transaction was $380,00 for a teardown near Oakley Avenue and Melrose Street, while the top price paid was $935,000 for an older two-flat that had been fully rehabbed into two three-bedroom, three-bath apartments.

For the City of Chicago as a whole, home sales in May declined -2.8%, with single-family sales off by -2.9% to 1,058 and attached sales down -2.7% to 1,855 units.

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.