If you ask real estate agents what a house's real market rate is, they almost always offer the same vague response: It's whatever someone's willing to pay. That's true, but in reality, agents usually review “comps,” homes recently sold in the same neighborhood with comparable amenities, in order to most accurately list a property.
But what if you have a one-in-a-kind listing? In Chicago, high-end homes priced in the tens of millions — like the ones listed below — are rare, meaning they have no point of comparison.
With price reductions greater than most expensive homes in Chicago, these massive (and massively expensive) homes defy the odds. Whether they'll be enough to lure in buyers is another question. Here are the biggest Chicago home price cuts in recent months.
1932 North Burling Street
Current asking price: $45 million
Original listing price: $50 million
This august 25,000-square-foot mansion on Lincoln Park’s posh Burling Street broke local real estate records when it was first listed in December 2016 for a soul-crushing $50 million. However, after a short break from the market last winter, the property relisted with a $5 million price reduction — more than 20 times Chicago’s median sale price of $228,000.
915 North Dearborn Street
Current asking price: $19.5 million
Original listing price: $21.9 million
Designed by architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost, this castle-like Gold Coast mansion last sold for $3.128 million in April 2009, deep in the throes of the Great Recession. It underwent a dramatic interior overhaul and reentered the market last October for nearly $22 million.
9 West Walton Street #3300
Current asking price: $10.699 million
Original listing price: $12.999 million
A new addition to the Chicago skyline, the No. 9 Walton tower has shot to the top of the ultra-luxe market. Well-heeled buyers are snatching up units in the coveted 38-story tower — including billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who purchased the top four floors for $58.5 million in 2017. But this 33rd-level, full-floor unit remains, shedding $2.3 million from its asking price in five short months.
1516 North Lake Shore Drive
Current asking price: $9 million
Original listing price: $15.75 million
One of the Gold Coast’s most grand manors, this sprawling 12,000-square-foot limestone-clad mansion was originally built for a wealthy banker. For the last 65 years, the property, along with the neighboring mansion at 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive, has been owned and occupied by the International College of Surgeons. Since the property entered the market in 2015, $6.75 million has been shaved off the asking price.