The article below, written last summer chronicled how buyers prefer the suburbs to the City. Remote work, less crime, blah blah blah have made the burbs more relatively attractive compared to Urban living.
The trend continues in the face of reduced inventory and high interest rates both which make buying a new place tricky.
Chicago's latest homebuying hot spots are the North and West suburbs.
Why it matters: Prices are rising in areas further from the city as low inventory pushes shoppers to expand their searches, according to Schaumburg-based broker Linda Dressler.
What they're saying: Schaumburg, along with Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale and Park Ridge, are particularly sought-after because they're near trains that go downtown and highly rated schools, among other draws, Dressler tells Axios.
State of play: "People who thought they bought high last year at this time are now looking around saying, 'Wow, prices this year are even higher,'" Dressler says.
The median home sale price in Chicagoland was about $317,000 in February, up 9.5% from a year earlier, according to Redfin.
Home buyer demand lives in Chicago's suburbs
Sami Sparber, Brianna Crane, Axios News
June 10, 2023
Home prices are soaring around the Chicago suburbs as the city's real estate market slows down.
Why it matters: Remote workers and millennials flocked to the suburbs in recent years to get more space for their money. Now, some suburban areas are just as pricey as the city, if not more.
"The suburbs right now are absolutely out of control, in the sense that we are back to multiple offers and waiving contingencies," partner and broker Matt Silver with Corcoran Urban Real Estate tells Axios.
By the numbers: Home prices have dropped faster in the city than the metro as a whole. In April, the median price of a home in the city of Chicago was $340,000, down 8% compared to the previous year, per the latest Illinois Realtors data.
The median price in the greater metro was $320,000, a 1.5% decrease from April 2022.
What they're saying: Without a widespread return-to-office, "vertical living in the city is still just quiet," Silver says.
Chicago's downtown activity has returned to 57% of its pre-pandemic levels, cell phone data shows.
Zoom in: In Naperville, the typical home cost $514,000 in April, up 7% over last year, according to MLS data from Redfin.
Meanwhile, in Oak Brook, the median sales price rose nearly 25% year-over-year, to $900,000.
The big picture: New census data shows suburbs of big cities, along with smaller metro areas, claimed most of the country’s growth last year, the Wall Street Journal reports.
What's next: Buyers are settling down wherever they can find a house within their budget — or sitting on the sidelines, Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari tells Axios.
If home prices in urban areas continue to drop, we could see a return to those areas.
"The cost will outweigh any amenity," Bokhari says.
What we're watching: The suburban restaurant and retail scene. All this growth has the potential to reshape communities.