This page is a collection of real estate statistics and trends for the Chicago area housing market. Data on this page is updated as it becomes available.

Case-Shiller Home Price Index (Chicago)

This index is possibly the best measure of home prices over time. Rather than using the median sales prices often reported in the media, this index actually follows the changes in prices of individual homes over time. Therefore, unlike the median sales prices, it is not affected by changes in the mix of housing sold over time – e.g. if a higher percentage of expensive homes are sold this would raise median prices but should not be regarded as an increase in prices.

Home price data for Chicago is reported monthly and goes back to January, 1987. The graph below is current through November, 2009 and includes a trendline, conservatively established during a 12 year period of rather reasonable price increases.

Interestingly, the index seems to have bottomed in April, though it did turn down slightly again in October and November. However, prices are still down to the level last seen in April 2003 and have fallen a total of 23.3% from the peak in September 2006. November represents an 8.5% year-over-year decline, which is one of the lowest declines we’ve seen recently. But more importantly, for the first time in 10 years the index actually has recently been below the trendline and seems to be returning to trend, indicating that the bubble has finally finished popping and we may have reached the bottom.

Illinois Association of Realtors Monthly Sales Data (Chicago PMSA)

The IAR tracks monthly units sold for the Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), which includes a broad area of Chicago and its suburbs. Units sold can be a leading indicator of the direction of housing prices. The graph below represents single family homes plus condominiums sold from January, 2006 through December, 2009.

The graph shows that home sales in the Chicago area had been tracking about 20 – 30% below the previous year until May when things started to improve. May was only off 19% from last year, June was off by 8.5%, and starting in June sales were up over last year. However, October, November, and December blew the previous months out of the water with a 33%, 72%, and 33% respective improvement over the previous year. These recent increases in Chicago area home sales were the first in 3 years. This could be the fact that we’ve gone so low it’s hard to go much lower but it’s also the effect of everyone jumping on the tax credit train that people thought was going to leave the station at the end of November (it’s departure has since been delayed into 2010). But that doesn’t explain December’s increase, unless you believe that new buyers came into the market really quickly after the tax credit was extended. This could in fact be a real effect and with December contracts up by huge amounts over last year it’s likely that January will be another blowout month.

Chicago Association of Realtors Quarterly Unit Sales for Chicago

CAR tracks monthly residential units sold for the city of Chicago. The graph below shows single family homes plus condominiums sold from the first quarter of 1992 through the first quarter of 2009. In order to smooth out the seasonal patterns the graph also displays a rolling 4 quarter moving average of the data.

The sales rate in the 1st quarter is now down to where it was in the 1995 – 1996 time period. However, all home types are not equal. Single family homes have actually been exhibiting an increase in sales since the 4th quarter of 2008, while condos continue to decline in sales.

It’s also interesting to note that Chicago home sales peaked in the last half of 2005 but prices didn’t peak until October, 2006. This reinforces the idea that unit sales are a leading indicator of home prices.

Chicago Condo Inventory And Days On Market

The sales rate impacts the months supply of inventory on the market and how long properties have been on the market. Ultimately, inventory levels impact home prices. In the graphs below we track the months of inventory of 2 – 3 bedroom condos in the city along with the number of days that these properties are on the market. We calculate these statistics a bit differently than the industry. For one, we calculate the inventory based upon all homes available for sale during the month – whether or not the listings were withdrawn. We feel that this more accurately reflects what people are trying to sell. In addition, our days on market numbers are for all homes listed – not just the ones that sell. Again, we feel that this more accurately reflect what’s on the market.

Home inventories in Chicago had been steadily trending higher until June when they started to improve from 2008. Home inventory in Chicago is now just a tad below a 15 months supply, which is substantially better than it was last year. The Chicago housing market is definitely looking up, with the absolute inventory of real estate down over last year and the sales rate running at close to twice the sales rate of last year.

The improvement in the housing market is also clearly evident in the market times for condos in Chicago, which is showing a marked improvement over the last few months.

Please note that starting with October, 2007 the MLS restated the market time history using a different methodology that is believed to be more accurate.

Chicago Area Employment

A great indicator of long term demand for housing in any region is the employment statistics. People can’t afford to buy homes if they’re not working. Therefore, we track the employment numbers reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the broad Chicago metropolitan area, which includes such towns as Naperville and Joliet.

These numbers had been showing growth until June 2008 when employment started to drop from the previous year. Although it recently was beginning to look like the employment numbers in the Chicago area had bottomed, the December numbers hit a new 10 year low. In just the last 12 months 181,000 jobs have been lost and a whopping 402,000 jobs have been lost in total since the peak in July 2007. The unemployment rate for the Chicago area is now at 10.6%, which is up from a low of 4.6% in November 2007 but is a considerable improvement from the 11% that we hit in June 2009. That is probably understated because an official national unemployment rate of 10% corresponds to a real unemployment rate of more like 17.5%.

Another interesting tidbit to note is that, even though employment peaked in 2000, home sales continued to rise through 2005. Maybe that was a sign that things had gotten out of control.

Chicago Community Real Estate Market Statistics

For each of the following Chicago neighborhoods we provide trend data for condo inventory and the number of days on the market for sold condos as an indicator of the health of the neighborhood real estate market. We update this data approximately every two months.

• Edgewater
• Hyde Park
• Lakeview
• Lincoln Park
• Lincoln Square
• Logan Square
• Loop
• Near North Side
• Near South Side
• Near West Side
• North Center
• Rogers Park
• South Shore
• Uptown
• West Town