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These charts were prepared using information supplied by Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). In addition to charting home prices in the 77 Chicago communities recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau, we have also tracked sales in most towns in Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties where figures were available. (In Lake County, the town listed as Round Lake also includes Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, and Round Lake Park.) For the outlying counties—Kane, McHenry, and Will—we have listed a number of representative towns.

After the name of the neighborhood or suburb, the first column on each chart lists the average sale price for all the houses sold in each community from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010. (Obviously, if only a handful of houses were sold in a particular community, the average price risks being unrepresentative.) Average sale prices for the suburbs are based upon the sales of single-family homes, which MRED classifies as “detached” housing. For Chicago, where a sizable portion of the housing stock is composed of townhouses, condos, and lofts—“attached” housing—we have also included average sale prices and number of sales for those residences during the same period.

The second column reports the average number of days that houses remained on the market before they were sold, which can be an indicator of an area’s desirability. The third column lists the number of house sales within each community from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.

The fourth column reports the percentage of increase or decrease in average sale price since the 12-month period beginning July 1, 1993, and ending June 30, 1994, the earliest date for which MRED has comprehensive data available for most of the city neighborhoods and suburbs. In Albany Park, for example, the average sale price 16 years ago was $134,203; this past year, it was $312,147, an increase of 132.59 percent. (Prices have not been adjusted for inflation.)

The fifth column represents the percentage of increase or decrease in average sale price since the 12-month period beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009. In Chicago, we list the percentages for detached homes only. The percentages of increases or decreases in sale prices since July 1, 2009, for townhouses and condos in neighborhoods with sales of 75 or more attached homes are:

In some instances, we have used “N/A” where data were insufficient or unavailable. Specifically, for city neighborhoods and suburbs—such as Armour Square and Bannockburn—that had fewer than ten house sales during the 2009–10 time period, we have listed no percentage change since 1994 or 2009 because the available data provided an insufficient basis for comparison between past and present sales. 

ABOUT MIDWEST REAL ESTATE DATA

Midwest Real Estate Data is a real-estate data aggregator and distributor that provides the largest multiple listing service in the country (by listing volume) to over 40,000 customers, with property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwestern Indiana.