It’s been a rough ride of late for homebuyers in the Chicago area. With inventory shortages plaguing the local market, prices rose 4.6 percent last year, while the number of sales fell 20 percent. Real estate agents have felt the pinch, too. In our latest annual rankings, 477 agents reached residential sales of at least $10 million in 2023. That’s a sharp drop from 2021, when 861 did. It is a similar story for agent teams, with just 276 of them hitting at least $20 million, down from 435 two years earlier.
So why is housing supply struggling to keep up with increased demand, particularly in the suburbs? “Last I checked, there weren’t UFOs that dropped off more people. We didn’t create a bunch of new 22-to-45-year-olds,” quips agent Matt Laricy, whose group at Americorp ranked second among teams. “Prepandemic, inventory wasn’t an issue. What happened is that during COVID, everyone left the city and they didn’t care what they had to pay, but now the surrounding areas can’t take in all these people.”
Inventory problems are spottier within the city. “There’s high demand and a shortage of single-family homes in areas like Bucktown, Lake View, and North Center, while in Streeterville, the Gold Coast, and elsewhere downtown you have a surplus,” says Carrie McCormick of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, who ranked second among individual agents.
The rise in mortgage rates has helped fuel shortages, as potential sellers hold off on jumping to new homes, hesitant to give up their existing low terms. But McCormick thinks that may change soon: For homeowners who have five- or seven-year adjustable rates, “those will start to expire, and it will inspire people to start moving.”
The new rankings: