Lincoln Park/ Old Town (60614):
- Condos: Seller’s market across the board for almost all price ranges. Severe seller’s market up to 1M. Strong seller’s market up to 1.65M. Market favored buyers above 1.65M last month, but this market is now balancing out.
- SFH: Still a seller’s market up to 2.5M. 2.5M-3.5M just went from balanced to slight edge to the buyer month over month. Homes over 3.5M just went from 6 months of inventory to 9 months of inventory MOM!
Lakeview (60657)
- Condos: Seller’s market across the board for all price ranges. This is just a savagely unhealthy market for buyer’s. This market for all price ranges is sitting at 1.1 months of inventory.
- SFH: Seller’s market for all quartiles except the upper quartile. Seeing inventory grow in the top quartile above 2.5M. This is now a slight buyer’s market.
West Loop (60607)
- Condos: Strong seller’s market under 425k. Market loosens up a bit to favor buyers as price gets higher. Seeing strong inventory growth in the lower middle quartile between 425k and 650k. Inventory is up close to 50% MOM.
- SFH: Not enough data
West Town/Wicker/East Humboldt (60622)
- Condos: Seller’s market for all price points. This market is savagely unhealthy for buyers. Total inventory sitting at 1.1 months. This is right up there with Lakeview.
- SFH: Seller’s market for all price points except the upper quartile. We had a few massive listings in the 4M-6M range come to market this past month, which put the top quartile into a balanced market.
Logan/Buck (60647 and 60642)
- Condo: Seller’s market across the board.
- SFH: Seller’s market across the board but starting to see inventory increase in the upper quartile above 1.6M. This market now favors the buyer slightly. We have seen some big listings come to market in Bucktown and Logan this past month.
South Loop (60605)
- Condos: This briefly shifted towards a sellers market last month, but we are seeing inventory grow MOM in most quartiles. Bottom two quartiles are still a seller’s market, and the upper two quartiles favor buyers slightly.
- SFH: Not enough data
Loop/LakeShore East
- Condos: Lower quartile 450k and under is a slight seller’s market. More of a balanced market 450k-700k. Buyer’s market in the upper quartiles 700k and up. Demand was outstripping supply last month, but we are starting to see supply stick around slightly longer.
- SFH: Not enough data.
River North
- Condos: This was a firm seller’s market under 500k last month, but we are seeing inventory grown in the bottom quartiles. Inventory is up about 50% in the lower quartiles MOM. The higher the price point, the more favorable the market for buyers. Severe buyer’s market 1M and higher.
- SFH: Not enough data
Streeterville
- Condos: Lower quartile 400k and under is a balanced market. 400k to 750k favors buyers. 750k to 1.5M is a hardcore buyer’s market. 1.5M and up is the most severe buyer’s market in all of Chicago sitting at about 25 months of inventory…
- SFH: Not enough data
Gold Coast
- Condos: Officially a seller’s market in the lower quartiles under 575k. Slight edge to buyer’s upper middle quartile 575k-1.2M, but this market is improving on the supply side to favor sellers. Still a buyer’s market in the upper quartile 1.2M and up.
- SFH: Relatively balanced up to 2M, but more of a buyer’s market closer to 2M. 2M to 3.35M (lower middle quartile) is sitting at 10 months of inventory, so this is the price point you want to be in if you are buying in GC. This is the second strongest buyer’s market in Chicago sitting at about 18 months of monthly inventory or 16 months in rolling 12 months inventory.
Beverly/Morgan Park
- SFH: Seller’s market across the board. Seeing inventory grow north of 650k but demand is outstripping supply.
This past month was very action packed. The March CPI print came in hotter than expected. The market was previously pricing in 3 rate cuts (75 basis points). I have been saying for a while now that if we see any rate cuts in 2024, it would be later on in the year and that we would see less rate cuts than what the market was pricing in.
The good news is that mortgage spreads have been compressing. Without mortgage spreads coming down, we would be seeing rates in the 8% range. This is very helpful, but we are more or less in the same situation with rates in the low to mid 7’s.
I am seeing a bit of reaching in this market if I am being completely honest. A lot of my buyer’s are getting outbid in multiple offer situations, and I am continuously shocked when I see what people are willing to pay for some properties. This leads to FOMO and even more reaching. You basically have to go into buying knowing you are going to overpay and be OK with it in most of our markets.
My fiance and I have been looking for a SFH or 2-unit in Logan to convert to a SFH, and it has been brutal. We recently put a bid on a place listed at 650k and offered 700k. The listing agent told me that there were offers north of 750k, which I almost couldn’t believe.
I am a huge advocate of selling in the spring and buying in the summer/fall. It can be incredibly inconvenient finding temporary housing in between places, but I do think it is worth it. This is exactly what we are doing right now as we sell our primary condo in LP. It’s going to suck cramming into a smaller unit for a few months, but it is what it is.
